Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential economic benefits to Burnley of improvements to rail connectivity in and around the East Lancashire area; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Government supported the reopening of the Todmorden Curve in 2015 which has allowed a new faster and direct train service between Manchester Victoria and Burnley, opening up job prospects and tourist and leisure opportunities.
Work is progressing to assess the potential role of a re-opened Skipton-Colne rail line to deliver real benefits for passengers in East Lancashire, freight users and the local economy to complement the initial Strategic Outline Business Case completed in December 2018. These will inform the Government’s decision as to whether a reinstatement scheme should progress to the ‘develop’ stage of the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline.
More widely, to help communities both in East Lancashire and across the country, we have pledged £500m to start reopening lines closed following the Beeching report.
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
What steps his Department is taking to support towns.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
This Government’s £3.6 billion Towns Fund will support an initial 100 Town Deals, unleashing towns’ economic potential and sharing prosperity across the country. We are forming a Towns Hub to make Whitehall work for towns and communities and have provided places with over £16 million capacity funding – to prepare their plans and secure up to £25 million each.
We will be investing in town centres and high streets to help them evolve – with more housing, safer streets, culture and transport to make them more accessible.