MP calls for progress on Oswestry to Gobowen railway
North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan has called for the Government to “get the wheels turning” on restoring the Oswestry to Gobowen railway link.
Oswestry currently has no railway station despite being the area's largest town, with residents having to rely on services from nearby Gobowen to get onto the main line.
Mrs Morgan says residents are also having to put up with often "unreliable" buses not running during evenings or Sundays.
Now the MP is following up her earlier calls to the Secretary of State for Transport to move ahead with planning for the scheme, which would reconnect Oswestry to the railway line for the first time since the Beeching cuts.
A strategic outline business case was submitted to the Government last September but nearly a year later no decision has been made.
Despite previously promising a decision by spring 2023, rail minister Huw Merriman has failed to provide any positive update on progress to repeat requests, said Mrs Morgan.
She is now planning a round table event in Parliament to highlight to politicians in Westminster how much worse public transport is in rural areas like North Shropshire.
Mrs Morgan intends to connect local campaigners with Government and rail representatives as she pushes the campaign to reinstate the rail link forward.
She said: “There are few towns the size of Oswestry with such poor public transport links. Despite the obvious rail heritage you see around town, Oswestry Railway Station has not been open since 1966.
“The plans have been with the Government for almost a year now. It’s time to get the wheels turning and make the project happen and I will fight tooth and nail to make that happen.
“I’ve already been in touch with the Secretary of State for Transport and Transport for Wales over making the plans viable, and will be campaigning to get residents involved and show our decision-makers how important a link to the mainline would be for Oswestrians.”
