MP's delight as Rail Minister commits to completing Oswestry rail link
North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan has expressed her delight after receiving confirmation that the reopening of a railway link between Oswestry and Gobowen is to be funded to completion.
In a letter to the MP, Rail Minister Huw Merriman said he was ‘delighted to be able to confirm that the project will be funded to delivery’ with Network Rail to lead the next stage of work alongside Cambrian Heritage Railways.
The MP has seen documents from the Restoring Your Railways fund which support the case for a station, and outline the costs for reintroducing services to Oswestry with a stop at RJAH at a capital expense of £5.3 to 14.6 million, and yearly operating costs of £196,000.
The Restoring Your Railways fund document also says that when it comes to economic considerations, the scheme’s strategic outline business case scored highly with ‘Very High and Financially Positive’ value for money.
The next step for the project is to engage with potential rail operators and put together a full business case.
The scheme will be funded by the Restoring Your Railways Fund after an outline business case was submitted last year.
Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire said:
“It is fantastic to see the Department for Transport commit to getting Oswestry back on the mainline, and that the Government has finally realised how much value the project will bring.
“All the hard work done by Roger Date and the team at Cambrian Heritage Railways is to thank for this glowing review. The case for reopening the line is overwhelming and the bid submitted last year made that clear.
“We need to go full steam ahead in getting Oswestry reconnected to the mainline. The economic benefits to the vitality of the town would be huge, helping people get into town, out to work, and creating enormous numbers of opportunities for our young people.”
