Leagrave Station: Step-free Access

Jerome Mayhew Excerpts

Monday 9th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Owen (Luton North) (Lab)]

I must confess that this is my first Adjournment debate, and I am gutted that the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) is not here to intervene. Is it an Adjournment debate if he has not done so? Probably not.

I wish I could carry on in that jovial tone, but unfortunately I cannot. We all hate being let down—frankly, I think many of us have been let down quite a lot this week—but especially when we are led to believe that a problem is about to be fixed, only to have the rug pulled from beneath our feet. Thousands of users of Leagrave station in my constituency felt a huge sigh of relief, and thousands more would-be users who currently cannot use the station felt hope, when they were told just before the election that we were successful in gaining Access for All funding for Leagrave station—the funding, which is vital for our needs as a community, was for lifts at the station—only to have this cruelly snatched away from us when we found out that there was no money for the scheme and there never had been. To put it bluntly, we were lied to as a community, but people in Luton North do not give up, and we want to know what the reasoning was for the lack of progression via the Access for All routes funding. When and how can we work with the new Government to make progress on securing lifts at Leagrave station?

Leagrave station is a major transport hub for our town. Nearly 1.5 million journeys are made to and from the station every year. I do not begrudge the stations that were approved for Access for All funding—I am very pleased for them. I would love to live in hope that, before I am entirely grey, we will see all stations in every community entirely accessible for all, but I do wonder why it is that many of those stations that were approved for funding actually have fewer journeys than Leagrave station.

[Jerome Mayhew (Broadland and Fakenham) (Con)]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way. This is an important debate. If she has been following the proceedings of the Public Bill Committee for the Railways Bill, she will have heard that at the current rate it will take more than 100 years to get step-free access across the full estate. Does she agree with the Opposition in this instance that that is too long?

[Sarah Owen]

A rare occasion! I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention and yes, he is right, that is far too long. Not only will I be grey, but I will be dead, so progress is far too slow—[Interruption.]