Jack Brereton MP has joined MPs in a Westminster Hall debate to look further into the government’s Restoring Your Railways Fund.
Following the publishing of the Beeching Report in 1963, communities like Stoke-on-Trent saw the closure of both rail stations and rail lines. The government launched a £500 million Restoring Your Railway Fund in January 2020, to deliver on the government’s manifesto commitment and start reopening lines and stations. 2 years on from its original launch, new projects continue to be announced, with MPs hoping to make successful bids in future rounds of funding.
2022 saw big wins in securing more investment to improve the city’s local transport. Jack Brereton MP is the current Chair of the board overseeing efforts to re-open Meir Station. Last year he celebrated news from the government that Meir Station would receive £1.7 million allowing the project over the next year to develop the full business case and delivery study, taking a significant step towards reopening the station. North Staffordshire MPs have also teamed together in hope of reopening the Stoke-Leek line and saw £50,000 being rewarded from the government towards a feasibility study for the project which was submitted in November.
Together these Restoring Your Railway projects, reopening Meir Station and Stoke-Leek Line, are alongside the work being done by the West Midlands Rail Executive to look at reopening Trentham Station, and the vision of the City Council for a properly integrated light rail network for the Potteries, creating a properly integrated public transport network.
Following the debate Jack Brereton MP said:
“Improving transport, including our local rail services in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire, is vitally important to enable people to access better work and skills opportunities, making it easier to get about. Our area suffers from significant road congestion and many people have no alternatives or no transport at all, with a third of households not owning a car in Stoke-on-Trent.
I was delighted to be able to speak in this debate in Westminster to highlight just how important it is that we improve local public transport and particularly our local rail services. We have secured significant investment through the Transforming Cities Fund and Bus Improvement Funding to improve bus and rail services. Reopening of a station at Meir and restoring services to the Stoke-Leek Line are the next steps which would help significantly level-up opportunities for Stoke-on-Trent.”
During the Westminster Hall debate, Jack Brereton MP said:
“As I have said in this chamber before it’s important to recognise North Staffordshire is one of the few parts of the country which were not only hit by Beeching’s Axe but also saw further reductions in our rail services under the last Labour Government.
Services to Barlaston and Wedgewood ceased as part of the West Coast Mainline modernisation in 2004.
Thankfully times have changed, and we recognise the benefits of encouraging more people back onto our railways, but much we need to restore much of our locally connectivity.
The Conservative Government has been extremely supportive in improving local transport for Stoke-on-Trent, we have secured £40 million through the Transforming Cities fund for local bus and rail improvements, £31 million through the Bus Service Improvement Plan, as well as funding towards our Restoring Your Railways Fund projects.”
Jonathan Gullis, MP for Stoke-on-Trent, Kidsgrove & Talke added:
"If we bring that train line back to life (Stoke-Leek Line), it will save people getting around our city an average of 25 minutes at peak times. That is a huge benefit. More than a third of residents of the city do not have access to a motor vehicle and are heavily reliant on taxi services, because sadly the bus service is in need of improvement.
It is important to make that case for local people, particularly those who live on the outskirts of our city. In Milton, Baddeley Green and Stockton Brook, people have to get off First Bus Potteries and get on to another bus near Endon and Brown Edge to get to Leek. I believe Leek, which has about 25,000 residents, is the largest town in the country not to be served by a railway station.”
In response to the debate, the Minister Transport, Huw Merriman said:
“Hon. Members should know that I have asked my officials to carry out a review of all the schemes in the restoring your railway portfolio to prioritise the most viable projects for the next stage. That is particularly important in the light of the remaining budget we have available, so that we deliver the most we can under the challenging financial constraints we all have to live with.
As ever, brilliant speeches were made by my hon. Friends the Members for Stoke-on-Trent North (Jonathan Gullis) and for Stoke-on-Trent South (Jack Brereton), who made a great pitch for the Stoke-Leek line. That is an ideas fund 3 project, and the strategic outline business case is being reviewed by the Department. I know that my hon. Friends will keep on at me in that regard, and my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South should be assured that Meir station has been funded to full business case. That was announced in June 2022.”
Read full debate here: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2023-01-24/debates/51DD7299-D586-4610-BF6C-2C59096A096D/RestoringYourRailwayFund
