'Poor public transport removes opportunity': MP renews call to reopen 'transformational' railway'

Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire Helen Morgan put the plans to reopen the line between Oswestry and Gobowen to a government minister in a Westminster Hall debate on Wednesday afternoon.

Oswestry, which once housed the headquarters of Cambrian Railways, was a victim of the Beeching cuts, and lost its connection to the main line in 1966.

Last year the previous Conservative government committed to reopen the two-and-a-half mile light railway line as part of the Restoring Your Railway fund.

But the new Labour administration has confirmed it was cancelling the fund at it attempts to address what the chancellor called “the worst set of economic circumstances since World War Two".

On Wednesday, MP Helen Morgan brought the issue to the government through a Westminster Hall debate - which allows MPs to raise local or national issues and receive a response from a government minister.

Opening the debate, the North Shropshire MP described Oswestry as a "town of huge importance to the border region" but "economic potential is being stunted by poor public transport".

She spoke of the town's "huge disappointment" over the decision to pull the funding for the line, which she said would have had a "transformational impact".

"Poor public transport removes opportunity," she added, "it hinders young people, limiting their options for further and higher education and restricting their access to culture and leisure. In short, barriers to mobility are barriers to social mobility.

"During a recent visit to the job centre, the brilliant staff there told me the number one barrier to people accessing work is poor public transport.

"I've spoken to businesses in Oswestry, who've reported real difficulties in recruiting. They need to be able to attract people who work from a much wider area than Oswestry itself, and not just those who have access to a private car.

"This means we're in the ridiculous situation where employers can't recruit and job seekers can't find jobs to match their skills and both because of the same problem as poor public transport."

Mrs Morgan also spoke of issues at the hospital, where patients were reportedly relying on family and friends to take them to appointments because of the lack of public transport.

She concluded: "You can't regenerate growth, jobs, skills and investment if a town is isolated from the rest of its region. That's why the previous government promised to fund this project and it's why the new government should too."

Addressing the motion, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Future of Roads, Lilian Greenwood said the department was "committed to putting transport at the heart of mission-driven government" and acknowledged the importance of connectivity for the promotion of social mobility.

"Transport is so important because of those opportunities that it opens up for people," she said, "but as the chancellor set out in her speech to the house on July 29, the government has been forced to address the economic inheritance that we've been left by the last government, which includes that 22 billion pound black hole in the country's finances this year alone.

"That includes £2.9 billion of transport projects that were committed to despite the last government knowing full well that they were unaffordable.

"I completely understand that the announcement of the difficult decision to close the Restoring Your Railway program has caused disappointment and I can assure the honourable member that that decision was not taken lightly.

"As the chancellor set out individual Restoring Your Railway projects will be considered as part of preparations for the spending review and wider spending decisions for the department.

"But won't be possible for all transport projects, particularly those not yet in delivery, to continue. I'm afraid that that is the difficult reality of the position we find ourselves in and I wish that it was not so."

Concluding the debate, Lilian Greenwood said: "I want to offer my and my ministerial colleague support in working with her to improve the transport network in her constituency and indeed right across the country.

"As she recognized transport is a vital enabler for jobs, for opportunities and for growth. I'm sure we share that desire to see that for North Shropshire and indeed for the whole country."