Rail Investment

Jason McCartney Excerpts

Monday 16th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I believe that may be something of a stretch, but we will wait to see what the industry says about how quickly it can deliver the plan and develop the proposals. There is a lot of work to be done, but the most important thing is that we have signalled that it is going ahead. I appreciate the support of the hon. Lady and her colleagues, and I have to say that I have had a huge amount of lobbying by Government MPs from Wales as well. Together, they have made a real difference by getting across the case for investment.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

I very much welcome the fully funded northern hub project, the investment in Huddersfield railway station and the new station fund, which my community of Milnsbridge may go for. Will the Secretary of State confirm the importance of connectivity and local stopping services, so that people in Slaithwaite, Marsden, Lockwood, Honley and Brockholes get full benefit from this transformational announcement?

[Justine Greening]

We want many communities to benefit from the announcement, and frankly, the more people we can get on the railways, the more successful they will be. That means connecting as many communities as possible, which is the approach that I am taking to High Speed 2 and to the current network. That is one reason why, for the first time, I have set aside some money for new stations.