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

Travellers at Bank Holidays have to be braced for difficult journeys as so often these are the only practical times to carry out essential repair and improvement work.

This August Bank Holiday was no exception as the line was closed for the weekend to allow Network Rail to renew track between Hemel Hempstead and Berkhamsted stations and to carry out planned upgrades. Some drainage work was also done at the same time.

The Tories' unexpected and disasterous cancellation of the electrification of the rail lines from Cardiff to Swansea, Oxenholme to Windermere and on the Midland Mainline North of Kettering is a huge setback for our railways, the regions, the travelling public and the environment. Electrification means faster journeys, extra capacity, greater efficiency and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Investment as planned that would have produced huge benefits later.

The creation of a suburban Metro, the devolution of London's suburban rail services from the Department for Transport (DfT) to Transport for London (TfL) and strong support for Crossrail 2 are key elements in the Mayor of London's, Sadiq Khan's, draft transport strategy. Sadiq Khan and his team had worked extensively on his plans during 2016. Unfortunately, and for no good reason I can think of, the Conservative Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, withdrew DfT involvement, which has slowed the process down.

Chargemaster plc, which installs and maintains the Polar network of electric vehicle charging points, supplies electricity and administers a billing system, opened the UK's first multi-brand electric vehicle showroom to the public on Saturday 22 July.

Chargemaster is running what it calls an EV Experience Centre (EVEC) as part of the Milton Keynes Go Ultra Low City scheme. The EVEC, which is situated in the Centre:MK shopping centre, provides information, advice and test drives.

It is now 10 years ago - on 1st July, 2007 - that it became illegal to smoke in any pub, restaurant, night club, most work places and most work vehicles in England. This followed earlier bans - on 1st April, 2007 - in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. And in the Republic of Ireland, a similar ban had been brought in three years earlier than that - on 29th March, 2004.

After the good news of newer, longer trains and improved Sunday services comes the rise of regulated rail fares by a massive 3.6% rise from January 2018 onwards, government statistics have today revealed. This is significantly greater than this year's figure of 2.3% and the largest rise since 2011.

A Message from Sally Symington, Chair of West Herts Local Party

Dear Members,

I am delighted to have in our new leader, Vince Cable, a high-profile advocate for an 'exit from Brexit' whose gravitas and media recognition lend credibility to the many Liberal Democrat arguments drowned out during the General Election. I hope as a party we can rally around a strong leader with a clear message who genuinely has the nation's best interests at heart.

Yesterday, 10th August, 2017, it was announced that the West Midlands Rail Franchise was awarded to Abellio JVRail, a joint venture between Abellio, East Japan Railway Company and Mitsui & Co Ltd. The consortium will trade as West Midlands Trains Ltd. The franchise will start in December 2017 and will finish in March 2026.

At a packed hall in the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law, West Road, Cambridge, last week the new Liberal Democrat Leader, Vince Cable addressed party members as part of a nationwide speaking tour which has taken him from West Country to Scotland in two crowded and strenuous weeks.

Vince Cable, remarking on the massive polarisation of British politics today, told members he was optimistic for the future of the Liberal Democratic Party, especially when looking at the extreme positions being adopted by both the Conservatives and the Labour Party. Theresa May was now in a loose coalition with the hard right DUP and the Labour Party was now in the tight grip of Momentum, with the moderate Labour MPs intimidated by bullying and scared of deselection.