A trip out to Dursley in Gloucestershire this week provided a salutary reminder of just how poor public transport can be in rural areas – and how vital it is that we improve the situation if we take economic development outside large town cities at all seriously.The train from London pulled into Bristol Parkway where I hopped across the platform (not literally) to board the Birmingham train, which deposited me 20 minutes later at Cam & Dursley station. Then the fun began. It turns out that Cam & Dursley station is in the middle of a field. Really. I could smell manure. It's also over two miles away from Dursley itself.
I found a bus stop and discovered that the connecting bus service is conveniently timed to arrive one minute after the arrival of the hourly train service. Unfortunately, whoever drew up the timetable was seemingly unaware of the existence of my 1115 train. I'd have been okay had I arrived at 1015 or 1215. As it was, I started walking. It sounds pathetic, but after a 45 minute hike along the side of a busy road in inappropriate shoes, I was cursing all things rural.
I admit that the sweaty adventures of a metropolitan hack aren't going to do much to tug the heart strings of many readers. But there is a serious point. Recent years have seen the last of Dursley's manufacturing companies go to the wall, with little new industry coming in to provide vital new jobs. The obvious thing to do would be to commute to Bristol to find alternative employment, but without a car that's not a serious option. On my homewards journey I asked at the bus station in Dursley about the service to the station and nobody could provide me with any information. In the end I ended up getting on a different service which got me at least vaguely near my destination. I also learned that if I had wanted to take a bus to Bristol instead, the journey would have taken an hour and a half.
If the jobs aren't going to come to Dursley, Dursley needs to go to the jobs. Unfortunately, the public transport system just isn't fit for purpose.
