Road and Rail Projects

James Naish Excerpts

Tuesday 8th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Heidi Alexander]

We will publish an integrated national transport strategy later this year to address precisely the sort of issues that the hon. Member raises about the criticality of bus links to stations in the absence of a new station. My predecessor and the Chancellor took the decision to cancel the restoring your railway programme because it was unaffordable in its entirety, but where schemes offer good value for money and really transformative benefits for the local economy—such as the Wellington and Cullompton schemes, and the Portishead scheme that we have announced today—I hope that we have shown that we are prepared to look at them and take them forward.

[James Naish (Rushcliffe) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for her statement. I welcome the announcements about the A46 bypass, given that the A46 goes through my constituency, and about the midlands rail hub that will connect Nottingham to Birmingham. As chair of the all-party parliamentary group for the east midlands, however, I must mention the electrification of the midland main line. I believe that the Department has received representations from more than 30 east midlands MPs, the mayor’s office and the APPG about the project. This feels like a missed opportunity. What steps are being taken to make sure that the project is not missed, but continues to be debated and discussed by the Department?

[Heidi Alexander]

I believe that my hon. Friend and some of his east midlands colleagues are meeting the Rail Minister later this week to discuss the midland main line electrification phase 3. The costs of the scheme were substantial, and we had to prioritise other schemes that deliver more tangible benefits to passengers sooner. However, we will keep the electrification scheme under review as part of our pipeline of projects for future funding.