Two Bolton MPs have raised concerns over the government's controversial rail plans announced yesterday.
There was anger in Parliament yesterday as Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps MP, confirmed that the eastern leg of HS2 was being scrapped while the planned Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) was being curtailed.
The Prime Minister insisted the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) would double capacity between Manchester and Leeds and treble that between Manchester and Liverpool.
One major concern in Greater Manchester is the bottleneck for trains at Castlefield in Manchester which causes significant delays for trains travelling between Manchester, Bolton, and the north west.
Former chancellor, George Osbourne, announced plans in 2014 to address this problem at the Castlefield corridor, however, this has yet to be addressed.
Chris Green, MP for Bolton West and Atherton, raised his concerns about this in Parliament yesterday (November 18).
He said: "I welcome the integrated rail plan and the wider electrification project that the Government are pursuing—including the link between Bolton and Wigan—but my constituents, whether going from Horwich Parkway or Hag Fold into Manchester, have concerns about reliability because of a bottleneck in Manchester.
"What will my right hon. Friend do to ensure that Manchester improves its reliability, capacity and connectivity?"
Mr Shapps replied: "The Manchester recovery taskforce, mentioned on page 104 of the integrated rail plan, is working on that very knotty problem of what happens in the corridor as we come through and out of Manchester.
"It is one thing that this plan seeks to resolve, and it will help my hon. Friend’s constituents in Bolton to get that electrification, particularly between Wigan and Bolton, sorted out as well. There is a lot in here for him to digest and I look forward to my next visit."
Bolton South East MP, Yasmin Qureshi, took to Twitter to display here anger at the watered down plans for rail in the north.
She posted: "Ultimately the government showed everyone in the north their true colours today. They cancelled a project which has widespread support and instead we have to make do with sub-par services connecting towns and cities in the north. It's simply not on.
"What's more this isn't just a London/north battle but a collective one. It's right that everyone, everywhere should have access to quick, cheap and reliable services.
"Sadly today's announcement by Shapps does not provide this."
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