Rail Connections to London: Rural Towns

Jodie Gosling Excerpts

Monday 23rd March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Julia Buckley]

I thank the hon. Lady for making that point about the inter-regional connectivity between our market towns. We need to get to London, but also to travel to each other. In Shropshire, we have three hospitals dotted throughout the county. Because of the lack of buses between those hospitals, we are reliant on trains. She makes a valuable point.

I was saying that Shrewsbury is the economic powerhouse of the region. Indeed, a recent report on our visitor economy shows that Shropshire’s tourism sector is worth a staggering £1 billion to the economy, supporting nearly 10,000 jobs across the county. Transport for Wales recognises Shropshire as a net contributor to the Welsh network, because we offer such fantastic employment, training and leisure opportunities to travellers. The Shropshire chamber of commerce’s quarterly business survey consistently reports the need for additional rail services, and states how much economic growth this would unlock, because additional contracts would be secured, increasing employment. Students no longer have the option of studying at a university in Shrewsbury, so travelling to London or stations along the way is hugely important for skills growth.

To fill the gap in services, Alstom UK has a bid for an open-access operation on the proposed Wrexham, Shropshire and midlands railway. It is offering up to four trains daily, based on its economic modelling of the latent demand at Shrewsbury. The railway would provide a total of six underserved rural towns with new connections to London.

[Jodie Gosling (Nuneaton) (Lab)]

Nuneaton serves as a valuable interchange for services to the economic centres of Coventry, Birmingham and Leicester, as well as for connections to Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted airport. Strengthening those regional links is estimated to be worth about £500 million across the region. Does my hon. Friend agree that routes such as the WSMR will deliver greater growth across our region, because by making more connections—not just to London, but to those centres—we will enhance the travel and services that we can offer?

Oral Answers to Questions

Jodie Gosling Excerpts

Thursday 20th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Keir Mather]

My hon. Friend is a champion for the port of Falmouth. I applaud the work that it is doing to achieve decarbonisation. It is incumbent on me to work with Ofgem and my departmental colleagues in DESNZ to ensure that we speed up the improvement of port capacity and connection to the national grid. I would be very happy to visit that port in the future to explore its fantastic work.

[Jodie Gosling (Nuneaton) (Lab)]

4. What steps her Department is taking to support the reopening of railway stations in under-served communities.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Lilian Greenwood)]

Rail plays a crucial role in kick-starting economic growth, including by connecting communities through new and reopened stations. In July, the Secretary of State confirmed investment in new stations in the south-west—at Wellington and Cullompton—and in South Wales, as well as the reopening of Haxby station in Yorkshire.

[Jodie Gosling]

My Nuneaton constituents are delighted that Nuneaton and Bedworth borough council has approved a lease in principle on a site in Vale View in Stockingford, so that Nuneaton Town football club can return to home ground. Reviving the disused Stockingford railway station on the Birmingham to Leicester line could be transformational for teams, fans and residents of Stockingford and Camp Hill, and could give a huge boost to local growth. What support can be offered, so that we can reopen the station and build on the business case from 2022?

[Lilian Greenwood]

My hon. Friend has been a great supporter of her local team’s plan for a new home town stadium. Warwickshire county council will receive £68.7 million through the local transport grant, which local leaders can use to support schemes that are in line with local priorities. The Department will issue guidance later this year to support local authorities in deciding how to use their multi-year allocations.

Road Safety

Jodie Gosling Excerpts

Tuesday 7th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jodie Gosling (Nuneaton) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Andy MacNae) for initiating this important debate.

I have heard many passionate arguments tonight about why our roads should be safer, and about deaths that were waiting to happen and were preventable, but I have been involved in a situation in which a death actually happened. Even after an 11-year-old was killed on one of our roads, we had to fight and campaign with his grieving mother for the road to be improved.

Harley James Jackson was killed during his first half-term at secondary school. His mum had to campaign to persuade the county council to make the improvements to that road, and it took two and a half years. We were told that the mean average speed on the road of 38 mph was within the expected range, although speeds of 5 mph and 80 mph at 8 pm were recorded in the speed data. The data is not consistent. We were also told by the safety officer during our campaign that there were 50 roads with similar speed characteristics but there was funding for only two.

This death could have been prevented. We knew that the road was dangerous; the community had said so, and the community campaigned. I can guarantee that no one knows more about that road than the mother of that child, who has campaigned ever since. We need to listen to these people in order to prevent such things from happening again.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

That was a very powerful speech. I call Amanda Martin to make the final Back-Bench contribution.