West Herts Liberal Democrats - Working for Hertfordshire, for Britain and for You!

Britain's roads are congested, noisy and polluting. Road transport by HGVs is expensive, unpopular and a major contributor to harmful climate change.

Now Chris MacRae, a rail expert at the Freight Transport Association (FTA), in an article in Rail Technology Magazine last year, has claimed that shippers often overlook the advantages that rail freight can bring to the logistics mix. While admitting that rail freight has inherent limitations and can only rarely provide every link in the logistics chain, he argues that, depending on the nature of the goods, the distances involved and the locations of the end-users, rail freight for a high enough proportion of the journey can achieve surprising savings in both cost and time.

His most spectacular example is the 50% saving compared to sea of rail transport between China and Western Europe. The typical 16-day transit time along the 7,500 route rail route, despite crossing nine countries and involving several guage changes is claimed to be suitable for valuable, non-perishable goods, such as car parts, clothing, luxury items and electrical and electronic consumer goods and bespoke equipment. Whilst there is no saving in terms of time compared to airfreight, the cost savings of rail transport are even greater.

On the third Tuesday of each month we have our Supper Club here in Berkhamsted.

We discuss politics and anything else we choose to talk about.

It gives us the chance to get to know each other and to put the world to rights.

We welcome all Lib Dem members - and anyone of a similar mindset - who would like to join us.

Cllr Paul Marment (Letchworth Grange) has joined the Liberal Democrats from the Conservative party.

"Since the end of the coalition, which I felt was one of the most productive times for this county in recent memory, I have been struggling with the Conservative party's polices at local and national level. The increasing move to the left and right of both main parties - and the increasing levels of Xenophobia in each organisation - coupled with ongoing issues locally - such as Hitchin Town Hall and the fiasco of the brown bin collections - convinced me it was the right time to shift parties."

DB Cargo UK is the UK's biggest railfreight provider and has just gone through a programme of restructuring and modernisation in response to changing patterns of trade. They are using new systems and improved IT to streamline processes and deliver a more reliant and resilient transport service. A key element in all this is a £6 million expansion of its steel coil warehousing facility in Wolverhampton at Horseley Fields, including the addition of a new internal rail line. This will then bring the storage, handling and re-distribution capacity up to 40,000 tonnes of steel in the form of 3,325 coils.

One of the biggest beneficiaries will be ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel company, which brings steel into the UK through the ports of Immingham, Hull, Goole and Boston. Moving steel by rail to a central location for the majority of its journey, will significantly reduce the carbon footprint for the products that will be made from it.

Tring Fire Station held a well-attended Open Day last Saturday, 4th August, 2018. However, during that time they had to send both engines out - one to deal with an electrical fire in Berkhamsted and the second to a separate incident elsewhere. Both despatches were handled with speed and efficiency and the first engine returned only just after the second had left. The Open Day was able to proceed without interruption with at least one engine present for the visitors to examine for most of the day.

1.Three Cherry Trees Lane, Hemel Hempstead: EXPERIMENTAL WAITING RESTRICTIONS

2.A4146, Leighton Buzzard Road, Hemel Hempstead: 7.5t WEIGHT LIMIT

3.Nettleden Road & others, Little Gaddesden/Nettleden: 7.5t WEIGHT LIMIT

4.Chesham/Newhouse Roads and others, Kings Langley: WAITING RESTRICTIONS

5.Wingrave Road, Elizabeth Drive and others,Tring: WAITING RESTRICTIONS

On Saturday 4 August work was going with a swing at the Tring & District Community Centre in Silk Mill Way.

It was high time that the doors should be replaced and because of the increasing numbers of elderly people using the centre, some of whom are in wheelchairs the decision was to fit automatic ones.

As the first tram-train project in the UK the constuction of the Rotherham to Sheffield Line was never going to be a particularly easy.It was designed to run partly on the type of rails used on the Sheffield SuperTram System and partly on existing Network Rail "heavy rail" track. There were various interactions to be considered apart from the rails, such as power systems, signalling, communications and control equipment.

County Councils are about more than just potholes! As Northamptonshire has show, county councils are also about good governance and financial prudence.

This is of course not to say that the massive cuts to county council funding - typically £20 million a year every year for nearly a decade - were not a factor. They were. But the show must go on, however imperfectly.

The very partial list below is from Herts County Council. We do not necessarily agree, with any particular proposal but the list might illustrate that there are many more issues other than potholes that county counils deal with. And are all being put at risk by continued government financial pressure on the public sector.

Tring may be a small town but it's been a thriving market town since gaining its Charter in 1315 - to gain an insight into its varied history why not visit Tring Local History Museum, The Market Place, Brook Street, TRING HP23 5ED

Only items which have a direct connection with Tring and its surrounding area, including the villages of Aldbury, Long Marston, Marsworth, Wigginton and Wilstone, form part of the display.