MADELEINE MOON MP WELCOMES RAIL INVESTMENT

MADELEINE MOON MP WELCOMES RAIL INVESTMENT

Local MP Madeleine Moon has welcomed a £1.1bn investment in electric rail which will improve journeys for passengers in Bridgend and South Wales.

The Prime Minister and Labour's transport secretary Andrew Adonis have today unveiled £1.1bn plans for a major electrification of the rail network, of the London to Swansea and Liverpool to Manchester lines.

The Great Western electrification will bring electric inter-city trains into Paddington, and along Brunel's classic railway, for the first time. The eight year project will extend electric trains to Reading, Bristol and through the Severn Tunnel to Cardiff, Bridgend and Swansea, including commuter lines to Oxford and Newbury. It will mean the first electric trains ever running in Wales.

Madeleine Moon MP said:

"This is fantastic news for the people of Bridgend and Porthcawl, not only will it enable speedier and more comfortable and reliable travel to London it will hopefully ease traffic on the M4/M5 during those busy holiday periods."

"The government is rightly committed to investing in Britain's future during the economic downturn. This investment will create a 21st Century railway which not only will be greener and faster it will create investment and jobs across the country.

Rail electrification is central to the low carbon plan set out by Ed Miliband last week. An electric train emits around a third less carbon per passenger mile than a diesel train - and less than half as much as a private car and a quarter as much as a short haul plane.