THERE’S no “two ways” about it, a much-wanted twin rail track between Hereford and Ledbury won’t be along any time soon.

The failure of the project to make the latest five-year plan for public transport in the West Midlands is offset only by the 1,000-plus response to a petition in its favour that went to regional rail bosses in Birmingham recently.

So with the signal seemingly stuck on red, the twin track campaign is looking to a new route that takes it straight to Whitehall with Jesse Norman, Conservative parliamentary candidate, on board.

It was Mr Norman who got the twin track petition going and then sent it along to Centro – the passenger transport executive for the West Midlands – with Herefordshire Council’s consultation response to the plan setting out structural improvements to the region’s rail network over the next five years.

That the petition should call on the secretary of state to support twin-tracking shows how far Rail for Herefordshire (RFH) has come, bold enough now to take out billboard ads at Hereford station and directly compare their key cause to the city’s planned outer distributor road, but completed at a fraction of the price.

With so much attention on far bigger – and arguably more attention-grabbing – projects, public transport in Herefordshire had to take a back seat.

Now, RFH sees a chance to make up for lost time and an opportunity of moving county transport policy away from its apparent reliance on roads.

Mr Norman’s hands-on approach to twin-tracking strengthens support for the scheme long shown by the man he hopes to replace, Hereford’s current MP Paul Keetch.

With this claim on cross-party consensus, RFH can avoid splits that so often see the county’s transport schemes come apart at the seams and boast London connections to rival First Great Western.

It was just under a year ago that Peter Strachan, route director for Network Rail, told Mr Norman that there was a strong case for twin-tracking between Hereford and Malvern, with the present 11-mile “bottleneck” stretch of single track seen as the biggest barrier to better rail links between Hereford, London and Birmingham.

The best Mr Norman came away with, though, was confirmation that the work was “under consideration” in the 2009-2014 phase of national rail investment.

The problem, of course, is the tunnels at Ledbury and Colwall, the adaptation of which would push the cost up considerably.

There is another major tunnel near Evesham that would need work.

But to RFH, the twin track is the lead in to all that could be done with the county’s rail services.

RFH secretary Becky Roseff said: “The twin tracking is the most important thing. Without it, it is impossible to improve the London and Birmingham service.

They can’t put on more Trains, and those they have are always at risk of delay or cancellation – though this has been getting better.”

RFH chairman Gerald Dawe pitches the wider context to directly compare twin-tracking to Hereford’s proposed ring road, the funding for which is effectively on hold.

“We calculate the double line could be re-instated for about £20 million, a fraction of the price of the (ring) road. If we are serious about reducing congestion and carbon emissions, reinstating the twin track is essential,”

he said.

WHAT DOES RAIL FOR HEREFORDSHIRE WANT FOR THE COUNTY’S RAIL SERVICES?

With twin-tracking as the top priority, RFH’s other immediate issues are: ■ More stations – one at Pontrilas for the Golden Valley and Hay-on- Wye and maybe another at Withington to serve fast-growing communities north-west of Hereford and the Whitestone business park.

There is also talk of re-opening the station at Moreton-on-Lugg.

■ Overcrowding – particularly the number of carriages on rush hour services, especially during term time. Rush hour trains run by Arriva Trains Wales and London Midland can get pretty packed, occasionally to a wholly unacceptable degree.

More carriages on these trains is the simplest solution.

■ Fares – Too high, as simple as that. More than £4 for a single between Hereford and Leominster alone. The latest example is socalled super off peak fare to London via Newport, up to £68 from £57 in the past month. RFH wants clarification from rail companies of their pricing policies and better ticket deals from the county’s stations.

■ Better connections for London between Hereford and Newport and Birmingham-Hereford-Leominster, which often need almost the maximum waiting time of one hour.

■ A better approach to Hereford station, which RFH says needs more than the “bike rack and pedestrian crossing” that took nearly 10 years to get. One bus stop instead of two, a 10mph limit, a decent walking route to town and better signposting would be a start.

■ Sunday services by London Midland. RFH acknowledges that the company is working on solutions that were recently hampered by a one-day strike over Sunday working conditions for train staff.

FACTFILE HEREFORD-Ledbury twintracking had strong support when Leominster Town Council met to debate the draft rail development plan.

Members chided the overall plan for its lack of ambition, but there was enthusiasm for the idea of opening up Moreton-on-Lugg station and maybe even reinstating the Leominster-Kington line for quarry traffic.

There was disappointment, though – and not a little frustration – at Leominster station seemingly missing out on much-needed needed improvements at the expense of Ludlow.

Campaigners felt that disabled access in particular needed addressing.

The apparent absence of any direct service from North Wales to London via the West Midlands to link up with Eurostar was also noted.