Barrhead News, Friday 29th June, 1984

Around 200 residents attended a public meeting in the Glen Halls on Tuesday evening to hear the latest situation regarding the fight to save Neilston rail-link.

The good attendance is an indication that interest is still considerably high and that residents still feel very strongly regarding the closure. Mr R. Collins, chairman welcomed the residents and explained that members of the special sub-committee would report on the progress. Regional councillor Mr James McGuire and district counciloor Mr Danny Collins attended the meeting.

RELIED

Mr J. Gallagher was first to report and said that railway link was an important part of village life and that the village was not well enough served for villagers to have to rely on other forms of public transport.
“There were” he said “a substantial number of elderly people residing within the village and they relied on the rail-link to a great extent. The sub-committee carried out a survey at Neilston station and established that a high proportion of commuters travelled to the inter-mediate stations between Neilston and Glasgow. The 289 schoolchildren who travel to Eastwood would face a much longer journey to and from school; a journey that would be at least 70 minutes duration.
Mr J. Sword, in his report said that if the service was withdrawn there would be extreme traffic problems especially at peak periods. A traffic survey had been taken been taken over two days at the Volvo site and the conclusion drawn from this was that the increase in road traffic would be considerable. Much had been made about the proposed new road but there was no direct link to the new road from Neilston.

IMPOSSIBLE

There would also be great difficulty in co-ordinating transport and there would be special problems during winter. It was estimated that travelling by road it would take over an hour to get to Cathcart during peak periods. The first bus does not leave Neilston until 8.26am and the last leaves Glasgow at 10pm. These times were not suitable for some working people and were impossible if anyone wanted to have a night out in Glasgow. There were anomalies in the report prepared by the Regional Council Working Party and the report says it ignores giving specific details.
The community council found it impossible to get specific details from the regional council and if specific details do exist they can only conclude they must be to the community council’s advantage and are being with-held. The electrical equipment that would be removed if the line was to close would be used to electrify part of the line to East Kilbride. There were a number of alternatives to closure. Single track operation could be introduced with a revised service. This would result in a 33% saving in operating costs and in a 50% saving in upkeep.
A station could be established at Auchenback which would attract more passengers to the line. 6,000 people reside in this part of Barrhead within a radius of 330 yards. Mr Sword concluded by saying that the sub-committee felt that Neilston’s needs had not been considered and that the community council’s report was being studied by the regional council and their reply was being awaited. Mr J Mackay, in his report said that the media had shown great interest in the activities of the community council and that television, radio and several newspapers had reported on certain aspects of the fight to save the line.

SUPPORT

He considered that the people of Neilston were just pawns in a political game and that enthusiasm for the fight must be maintained and it was likely that it would a long fight.
“The community council” he said “would be calling for the support of the community in the future and he expressed that wish that support would be forthcoming and that was necessary that the support would be considerable”.
He informed the meeting that councillor Malcolm Waugh had been in Neilston to have a look for himself but there was no information on how far he had looked or what conclusion he had drawn. Mr Mackay concluded by saying that there were no parallels with the fight to save the Kilmacolm line which had been lost and that Strathclyde Regional Council was unlikely to change its decision over the section 20 payment.