Rail campaigners were urged on Saturday to go out and fight for more electrification and for more rail lines to be reopened.

Railwatch columnist Peter Rayner criticised the Government for lack of action and an acceptance of the complacent road-orientated society we live in.

He said: "We need to fight for a better environment to grow old in and in which our children and grandchildren can grow up."

He said that Network Rail was at last looking into the possibility of opening new lines, including high-speed alternatives to existing main lines, but he urged Railfuture members to be brave and bid for more than Network Rail is likely to consider.

Mr Rayner, who is a Railfuture vice president, said the Government's failure to embrace electrification in its recent White Paper borders on hypocrisy.

Much speedier action is needed to combat global warming, road pollution, the immediate problems caused by the high price of petrol and the long-term prospect of high crude oil prices.

Mr Rayner listed a whole series of lines which should be electrified, starting with the lines from Peterborough to Ely which could be used as a diversionary route for the East Coast main line.

His second choice for electrification is Preston to Blackpool, followed by Manchester-Euxton Junction, Leeds to Manchester via Huddersfield and Stalybridge, Leeds "Horsehoe" and Leeds to Sheffield via Wakefield.

Mr Rayner also ranged over a wide area of Britain pointing out where improvements to the network could and should be made.

He has plans for Bodmin Parkway to Padstow, Tavistock to Plymouth, Exeter to Plymouth, the Minehead branch, Bath to Bournemouth, Llanelli to Carmarthen, an ambitious but feasible proposal for central England and many others.

He said plans for a busway on the old Luton-Dunstable line should be junked in favour of rail reopening and extending to Leighton Buzzard, as well as immediate action on the East-West link from Oxford to Cambridge.

You can download Mr Rayner's 12 pages of ideas and information by clicking on Rayner's Routes 116kb.

Then please take action yourself to get our blinkered politicians out of bed with the road lobby and on to the right track.