Skipton to Colne Rail Link

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Transport – in the House of Commons at on 2 May 2019.

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Photo of Chris Grayling Chris Grayling The Secretary of State for Transport

Of course if the scheme is to go forward it has to be at an affordable price. It is part of the Government’s broader strategy to improve connections between east Lancashire and West Yorkshire, and I commend those Members who have made such a powerful case for the improvement of those routes—particularly my hon. Friend Andrew Stephenson and my hon. Friend Philip Davies, at the other end in West Yorkshire, who has talked about the importance of those routes.

I also believe it is of fundamental importance that we have a proper freight route across the Pennines, as well as passenger services for local communities in those areas, so that we can provide shorter journey times from ports on the east and west coasts. That, to my mind, is the central part of this work.