Alex Cunningham MP, whose constituency is the home of the railways, has today added support to a parliamentary motion highlighting the extent to which British businesses and the economy rely on rail.
The motion, which has been laid in Parliament as the Coaltion begins to make decisions about spending cuts, calls on the Government to recognise that more people are now travelling by rail than ever before and that major rail improvement projects boost the economy.
Every year 1 billion of the 1.3 billion passenger journeys made by rail are people commuting or travelling for business. Rail freight also transports 100 million tonnes of goods every year worth £30 billion.
In 25 years time there are expected to be 80% more people commuting by rail and freight demand is forecast to go up by 70%.
Commenting, Alex Cunningham MP said:
“We have a rich railway history and rely on rail more than we may realise. It gets us to and from work and allows leisure journeys too.
There was good investment under Labour and whilst we know there are tough spending decisions to be made in the coming weeks and months, it is vital the Government does not make cuts in rail investment that could damage the local, regional and national economy by not enabling future growth.”
