Councillor Denis Healy says that he will be urging the East Riding of Yorkshire Council to get behind the reinstatement of the Beverley to York railway line.
On the day that the Government announced a £47bn overhaul of the railway network, including restoring rail capacity lost in the 1960s and 1970s, which closed down in 1965.
Cllr Healy said:
“The reinstatement of the Beverley to York railway would bring enormous economic benefits for Beverley and the East Riding.”
“It would connect Beverley, Market Weighton, Pocklington and Stamford Bridge to the national rail network at York and would improve everyday travel for our residents and visitors, as well as stimulating employment opportunities for our residents and boosting the economy of Beverley and the surrounding region.”
“It would also significantly ease the congestion and improve safety on the A1079 road, as well as improving train journey times from Beverley to York from nearly two hours to around 50 minutes.”
“There has been a campaign to reinstate this railway line for many years, but the game changer now is the Government’s new announcement that it will be spending £47bn on railway infrastructure improvement over the coming years,, including on routes that were discontinued following the Beeching review of the 1960s.”
“We need to make sure that we are at the head of the queue to unlock some of this central government funding so that it flows though to the East Riding. It is estimated that the capital cost of the line reinstatement would be around £300m.”
“I for one, don’t want to stand idly by and watch while money that could be spent on a transformational East Riding infrastructure project ebbs away to Leeds or Manchester.”
“I will be pushing the East Riding of Yorkshire Council to commit to supporting the reinstatement of this route, now that there is Government funding available, and I want to see the Council playing its part working with partners to make this project into a reality.”
“I will be raising this at the next full Council meeting early in the new year, and trying to secure the commitment from ERYC that is so badly needed.”
