TRANSPORT, both public and private, is one of the hot topics we have to address as we approach the next century.

Where once there was a drive for the demise of rail and bus transport in favour of the freedom of privately-owned cars, now the opposite emphasis is true.

Anyone who uses the A660 into Leeds can testify to the ever-increasing pressure on the roads system.

We live in the day and age that was once eagerly anticipated; the age where more people than ever can afford to have cars, but they are becoming less and less useful as our roads and towns become congested and polluted.

Even so, the authorities who would encourage commuters to use public transport have a difficult task.

In order to be relied upon by the public, services need to run on time. It sounds obvious, but such a simple consideration can make all the difference as commuters will not abandon their trusty car in order to arrive 15 to 20 minutes late or not at all if the service fails to materialise.

Rail services, as well as buses, have a tangible part to play in the transport equation, but the task of re-opening now defunct stations, such as the Arthington Station, may prove to be a hard-fought battle.

Since the privatisation of services, there is a seemingly insurmountable amount of paperwork and justification to be overcome in such a move, with the need to prove that services would be adequately used by the public.

But the additional car parking spaces at Horsforth Station would seem to demonstrate that more and more people are willing to 'let the train take the strain' rather than endure the increasing phenomenon of gridlock on the roads.

With a new set of bus services in Otley and a link about to be introduced to Menston Station, perhaps it is the ideal time for campaigners to add their weight to the drive to breathe new life into Arthington Station and take the pressure off our roads system.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.