Case for Change
Existing infrastructure
Existing infrastructure
Learn more about the existing road and rail networks in the Daventry and West Northamptonshire area.
More than 6 billion miles of road was driven on within Northamptonshire in 2019. That is a lot of miles. Enough to get around the Earth more than 225,000 times. For a country that wants to get to net-zero emissions by 2050, this is not a good sign. More sustainable transport methods are required if we want to meet that goal.
Roads and Cars 🍃
As well as this, different transport modes have drastically better safety levels. Just because we as a society have become accustomed to the casualty rates associated with our current usage of road transport does not mean we should continue to accept this status quo as inevitable.
1,784 people died while using cars throughout 2018, and a further 25,000 were seriously injured. In total there were more than 150,000 injuries. 5 deaths occur due to car accidents every day (2013 ONS data), compared to 7 passenger deaths on trains in the entirety of 2013. On trams and light rail, 12 fatalities of members of the public were recorded in the entirety of the 2018-19 period. Rail is approximately 10x safer per journey mile than road.
Traffic and Accessibility ♿
In many Northamptonshire towns, traffic levels are a problem. In Towcester, congestion is a common occurrence, as a result of it acting as a hub for many A-roads in Northamptonshire including the A5 and A43. Roads are not the only problem, with bus connections to places such as South Northants from Daventry being non-existent, requiring a long interchange at Northampton Northgate bus station.
Accessibility (for persons with reduced mobility) to several public transport nodes in West Northamptonshire is well below current standards. The three railway stations in the West Northamptonshire Local Authority Area are Long Buckby, Kings Sutton and of course, Northampton. We need all services to be fully accessible, so this should be an important consideration when considering upgrading existing services/infrastructure versus building new infrastructure which is inclusive by design.