Declares that the petitioners, whilst recognising the current pressure on public finances, believe that the cost to the public purse of a new railway station in Bromsgrove would be more than offset by the resulting economic and environmental benefits for both Bromsgrove and the wider region; and notes that there is uncertainty about the availability of Government funding for this project.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Secretary of State for Transport to confirm that Government funding for this vital infrastructural upgrade will go ahead.
And the Petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Sajid Javid, Official Report, 13 September 2010; Vol. 515, c. 710.]
[P000858]
Observations from the Secretary of State for Transport, received 28 September 2010:
I am aware that the growth in demand for rail travel from Bromsgrove means that the existing station does not have platforms long enough to accommodate the longer trains expected to be needed to cope with the number of people expected to use the services which call there.
The preferred option to address this issue proposed by Worcestershire County Council is to build a new station to the south of the existing station. This would increase the amount of car parking available to rail users and provide better interchange with other forms of transport than would be possible at the existing site.
This solution is supported by other rail industry partners and it would complement the proposal to electrify the railway line from Barnt Green to Longbridge and extend “cross city” services to and from Birmingham and beyond, to terminate at Bromsgrove rather than Longbridge.
The West Midlands Region had proposed to contribute £5 million from its Regional Funding Allocation from Government towards this project. In common with other schemes to be funded through this mechanism, consideration of this scheme has been suspended pending the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review. This has been necessary given the Government’s priority of tackling the budget deficit.
After the Spending Review and the consequent allocation of funds to local authorities and other bodies by the Government, Worcestershire County Council and other potential funding partners will need to consider whether this project remains a priority for funding from capital budgets.
In reaching a decision, funders will wish to take account of the economic and environmental benefits a new station would bring to the area.