Rail Connections to London: Rural Towns

Anna Gelderd Excerpts

Monday 23rd March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)]

I will make a very brief intervention, as I want to make sure that the Minister has ample time to respond to the many points that have been raised. I must congratulate the hon. Member for Shrewsbury (Julia Buckley) on securing this debate, and I thank her for telling us about her wonderful constituency. It is indeed a very attractive constituency, but I am afraid it is second best to mine in west Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly—we will no doubt have further debates about that. Nevertheless, I did not stand purely to make that competitive point.

It is to an extent justified for west Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to be engaged in all rail debates as the very first steam locomotive ran in Cornwall and the first steam rail service ran as a goods service from Angarrack to Hayle in west Cornwall, so we were there at the beginning of the story of rail and of rail services across the country. I am proud of the heritage that Cornwall has contributed to the United Kingdom in that respect.

My constituency is at the end of the Paddington to Penzance line, and the primary point that I wish to get across to the Minister is that we should not be mesmerised by speed. The whole High Speed 2 debate has been about cutting a certain amount of time off rail journeys to certain destinations. However, in the case of services from Penzance to Paddington and back, journeys generally take five or five and a half hours, and we have a sleeper service that takes eight hours. The issue in our part of the country is not speed, but reliability, comfort and competitive pricing.

[Anna Gelderd (South East Cornwall) (Lab)]

Yesterday I, alongside many constituents, was trapped on the main line—the one line we have between Cornwall and London—as a fire on the line caused havoc for businesses and constituents. I pay tribute to the emergency services, who responded so well to that incident. However, I want to highlight how a journey that should take a couple of hours became much longer—people were trapped, faced disruption and had to take taxis—which is a real indicator of how vulnerable we are in Cornwall. We need resilience built into that line. I look forward to hearing more about that in the debate.

[Andrew George]

I am enormously grateful to the hon. Member for making that point about vulnerability. At a number of points where the line is singled out—not just at Dawlish—a fire can have catastrophic consequences for the thousands of people seeking to travel on that day. One of my members of staff attempted to travel from Bristol down to the Lizard yesterday afternoon, and instead of that journey taking three hours it took over 11 hours. So often we hear those stories, especially about travelling to the far west of Cornwall—the further west we go, the more affected we are by those vulnerabilities.

My message to the Minister is that if we are to invest in the future of rail, what we really want is reliability, comfort, low pricing and space for people’s luggage. I know that the business community in Plymouth has previously lobbied to say, “If only we could take half an hour off the journey, it would change the economic perception of the city,” but taking half an hour off a five-hour journey means nothing to people in the far west of Cornwall. We also want reliability on the services so that the toilets do not constantly break down and people do not have to sit in the vestibule.

Network Rail Timetable Changes: Rural Communities

Anna Gelderd Excerpts

Tuesday 9th December 2025 Westminster Hall

[Anna Gelderd (South East Cornwall) (Lab)]

I thank the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont) for securing this important debate.

I begin by recognising the dedication of Network Rail staff. They work extremely hard to keep services moving safely. I know that local teams may sometimes dread seeing my name in their inboxes; I contact them so often because I frequently raise questions about transport in South East Cornwall. Their continued engagement with me matters, and I thank them for it.

I have serious concerns about my local transport routes, but we are seeing improvements, with new speed safety cameras, pedestrian crossings, better road safety measures and barriers put in place since my election. That progress reflects years of effort by many residents and community organisations in South East Cornwall.

Rural transport has always been a challenge for my area. As a rural and coastal area, that reality can often mean isolation for many, and difficulty when accessing essential services. In South East Cornwall, many residents look to Plymouth to attend healthcare appointments or go to school. For them, travel often relies on the Tamar crossings—either the bridge or the ferry. That creates an additional financial hurdle that is not faced in most other constituencies. Rail services help to bridge that gap. They are vital for residents who do not or cannot drive, in providing independence for them. Maintenance works are necessary to keep that network safe for passengers and staff, and those works will always need to take place, but my concern is the timing of some of them and the suitability of alternative services on offer as timetables change. As we speak, work is being carried out to cut back overgrown trees and shrubs, meaning that buses are replacing trains between, for example, Liskeard and Looe. In more urban settings that may be straightforward; in a rural and coastal setting it can be very difficult. Bus timetables have also been unpredictable for many of my communities.

I have been working with residents in Saltash in particular to look at unreliable bus and train service connections, cancellations, and buses failing to turn up. Those issues have an impact in my area beyond the frustration of a few minutes’ delay. Local residents have reported missing appointments, or not being able to get to work and wages being docked because of that, to me.

[John Whitby (Derbyshire Dales) (Lab)]

The new East Midlands Railway timetable will remove a second morning train between Matlock and Derby, significantly impacting commuters in the Derbyshire Dales. That will jeopardise employment and students’ education. Will my hon. Friend join me in urging EMR to find a solution that would ensure that the early morning train can continue to run between Matlock and Derby?

[Anna Gelderd]

I absolutely support my hon. Friend’s calls for those services.

Cornwall is unique and its geography calls for tailored solutions. I thank the Government for their support of my calls for those tailored solutions. Will the Minister look closely at how replacement services in rural and coastal constituencies are designed, and look to co-ordinate timetables around the needs of communities such as South East Cornwall? The alternative travel options available need to reflect our lived experience of a lack of other alternatives. I would like to work further with the Department and with Network Rail to share that local evidence and support that improvement.

[Graham Stuart (in the Chair)]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesman.

Road and Rail Projects

Anna Gelderd Excerpts

Tuesday 8th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Heidi Alexander]

In the past couple of weeks, we announced Project Reach, which will improve mobile connectivity in a number of tunnels and sidings, and some of those improvements will take place over the Great Western Railway network. On the works at Old Oak Common, the Rail Minister is very alive to the question of how we minimise disruption for users of the GWR service, both in the construction phase and once HS2 is in operation, and is looking in detail at that. Of course, when it is finally open, the station will offer a valuable interchange for GWR customers, who will be able to go to Birmingham without going into central London.

[Anna Gelderd (South East Cornwall) (Lab)]

Boosting growth and prosperity across the country, and especially in rural and coastal areas, is vital. What is the Secretary of State delivering for Cornwall, to help towns and villages in my area, including Saltash, Liskeard and Polperro, particularly as we work to find a long-term, sustainable and fair solution to the issue of the Tamar crossings?

[Heidi Alexander]

My hon. Friend was in contact with me directly a couple of days ago about mobile connectivity improvements on GWR that improve services in her constituency. I know that an integrated bus network in Cornwall is absolutely vital to her constituents, and through our Bus Services (No. 2) Bill, we want to give local leaders more powers to shape the bus networks that communities like hers need and deserve.