Gordon's Delight At Rail Announcement
Gordon today has voiced his delight at the announcement that the Preston to Blackpool North rail line will be electrified as part of a £200million investment by the Government.
Commenting on the news Gordon said 'I strongly welcome this announcement as I have lobbied hard for many years for the line to be electrified and indeed recently spoke to Lord Adonis, Secretary of State for Transport, on issues relating to the rail network and Blackpool.'
'The move will represent a step-change in our rail service and once again opens up the possibility of a direct link to London. This is a major psychological boost in restoring that link and we must once again lobby the Train Operating Companies on this.'
'The electrification could also be a further stimulus to Blackpool’s regeneration and builds upon the previous Government investment in public transport locally, including the recent extra provision of £880,000 funding for the concessionary fares bus scheme and the £100million for the upgrade of the tramway.’
The programme of electrification, announced today by Secretary of State for Transport Lord Adonis, will allow the existing diesel trains to be replaced by cleaner, faster and more reliable electric trains by 2017.
