NEWS BITES

The General Election in July resulted in five new Members of Parliament, from three different parties, representing the five constituencies of ESTA's area. Our Chairman has written to each of them, welcoming them to their new posts and looking forward to fruitful dialogue with them on local train and bus matters, ranging from the case for some through trains to and from London to the case for some Sunday buses for Halesworth, Framlingham, Leiston and Aldeburgh. We had previously sought the views of candidates - not all of whom responded.

We welcome improvements to BorderBus service 521, which links Aldeburgh and Leiston to Saxmundham and places further north, especially as it now also provides a more frequent service to the popular seaside village of Thorpeness.

Tunstall and Snape have the Katch demand-responsive service to Wickham Market station, but also deserve a service northwards to Saxmundham or Leiston, and we have made this point to Suffolk County Council.

Meanwhile we have continued to lobby for more trains to call at Westerfield and have put the case for better access between this station and the growing Ipswich Garden Suburb. Bus service 118 between Ipswich and Framlingham passes Westerfield station and the potential connections need to be properly exploited. At least Suffolk County Council have, on our prompting, now put up bus stop signs.