Local MP Caroline Dinenage today continued her fight for improved rail links between Portsmouth and London, during Questions to the Leader of the House in Parliament.
Improving the transport links to her Gosport constituency has been a key priority for Caroline since she was elected in 2010; having successfully secured a number of significant funding packages for local roads, she is calling for reduced journey times and better conditions on the rail route between Portsmouth and London.
Caroline asked:
"In light of South West Trains' announcement that £210 million will be invested in rolling stock and not a single penny will be used on rail routes between Portsmouth and London, will the Leader of the House agree to a debate on the much needed improvements to this important route which has been painfully neglected for decades?"
The Leader of the House, William Hague MP, replied:
"The investment that my Honourable Friend is referring to is the investment coming in to provide additional capacity to meet the expected increase in the number of peak time passengers arriving at London Waterloo and this is targeting the suburban network by creating extra platform capacity.
There will be a small number of evening peak services to Portsmouth that will be lengthened with more cars in the train, something that I hope she will welcome, but I know she will continue to make the case for investment that benefits her constituents and again there are many opportunities open to my Honourable Friend and Honourable Members to raise such issues in the House."
Speaking outside the Chamber, Caroline said:
"Whilst vast amounts of money are being ploughed into rail projects and route upgrades across the country, Gosport is still the largest town in the UK without a railway and commuters travelling between Portsmouth and London are still faced with a journey that takes longer than that from London to Doncaster, a distance that is more than twice as far.
I hope that the Government will recognise the need to improve connectivity to the South Coast and work with providers to secure improvements."
Today's question follows a Parliamentary debate which Caroline led in March, during which she urged the Government to invest more money in the transport network across the Solent region.
