8 July 2025: Green light for over 50 road and rail upgrades supporting over 39,000 new homes and 42,000 jobs
Neil Middleton, Vice Chair, commented:
“It was great to see today’s rail related announcements, including for Portishead. That’s a reminder that rail campaigning can be for the long haul – that campaigning started in 2000!. Rail can be a great enabler to connecting people to jobs and for economic growth – it’s a good time to reflect on the Northumberland line – Back in April, the BBC reported Northumberland County Council as ‘think[ing] 250,000 journeys will have been made by Easter, against initial expectations of 50,000’
“It’s also good to see possible accessibility improvements, with 50 stations listed.
“We hear this isn’t the full list for this summer; we hope to see three broad themes addressed in further announcements.
- Support for rail investments that are not linked to specific housing and industrial expansions. A classic example is the Ely Area Capacity Enhancement which will allow more freight to move from ports in the east of England to destinations in the centre and north of the UK. Today’s announcement seems to all be about “I want to do A, so I’ll make investment B” – what about investment Z which makes all of C to Y better?
- More rail investments to support individual housing and industrial investments – today, our branches have reminded me of Wisbech in Cambridgeshire and the Waterside Line in Hampshire. But there are other investments all over the country. Yes, London and the South East may have had much investment, but that investment has not been evenly spread.
- Recognition that the car is not the only option – Rail (including light rail) and the bus have an important part to play.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/green-light-for-over-50-road-and-rail-upgrades-supporting-over-39000-new-homes-and-42000-jobs
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/anglia/improving-the-railway-in-anglia/ely-area-capacity-enhancement/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c74nq19w100o