Todmorden Curve, no trains till December?

Thursday, 13 March 2014

Labour's shadow rail minister Lilian Greenwood today raised the ongoing debacle of the lack of available trains to run on the Todmorden Curve in a parliamentary debate about a shortage of trains in northern England.

The Westminster debate was called by Labour MP Angela Smith to raise concern at the lack of rolling stock for lines in the north of England after news broke last week of plans to take trains away from Yorkshire lines to give to Chiltern Railways in the Home Counties.

On the Todmorden Curve, Labour's shadow rail minister Lilian Greenwood said, "We already have real uncertainty over rail projects. The Todmorden curve is a case in point. Restoring that 500-metre section of track will enable new, direct services from east Lancashire to Manchester.

"Funding for the infrastructure was secured following a cross-party campaign, which included Graham Jones MP. The track itself will be completed by May, but, incredibly, no trains will run on it until December, despite previous assurances that sufficient trains could be found.

"As Josh Fenton-Glynn, Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for Calder Valley, has rightly said, that is 'an inexcusable piece of incompetence about which local people are justifiably angry.'

"I pay tribute to the work he has done to bring the issue to national attention."

Josh Fenton-Glynn said, "I'm glad Labour is raising the issue of the Todmorden Curve in Parliament. This should be the sort of thing our incumbent Tory MP should be doing but if he won't, we will.

"It is ridiculous that there will be no trains available to run on the line until December - despite Mr Whittaker claiming otherwise last year - and we'll keep pushing the government on it until it's rectified."