A PROMINENT group of London-based businessmen with interests in
Scotland are setting up a pressure group to save the Fort William
sleeper and motorail services.
Their campaign against the the services being axed will underpin the
economic arguments already made in Scotland.
The London-Fort William sleepers are expected to be withdrawn in May
because the railway franchise director has excluded them from minimum
service levels required of train operators under privatisation.
The decision has led to protests from groups ranging from Highlands
and Islands Enterprise and Highland Regional Council to the Convention
of Scottish Local Authorities and the Scottish Tourist Board.
Objectors believe there is ''a good chance'' of the Government
changing its mind about which services should be guaranteed early in the
new year.
The London pressure group -- to include businessmen, politicians, and
broadcasters -- is expected to go public as soon as campaign tactics are
agreed.
Spokesman Hugh Raven -- who splits his time between London and
Ardtornish on the Morvern peninsula, about 35 miles by road from Fort
William -- said yesterday: ''I expect the level of support from south of
the Border for the campaign against service reductions will not only be
helpful and significant but particularly effective.''
The English protesters are likely to lobby Transport Secretary Brian
Mawhinney and his Scottish counterpart, Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, to
at least keep the sleeper services during peak periods -- Christmas,
Easter, and the summer months.
Mr Raven, co-ordinator for a pressure group on farming, food, and the
environment, employs 18 people at a farm and holiday cottages at
Ardtornish.
He fears jobs will be lost if visitor numbers fell because of travel
difficulties caused by a loss of sleeper services: ''Travel here by any
other means than rail is an absolute nightmare.''
Mr Raven, 33, said the London lobby would highlight serious blows to
the West Highlands economy if the overnight trains were lost.
It also would argue that the line would be much more viable if
failures to promote the unique attractions of rail travel in the
Highlands were tackled.
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