Lichfield MP in call for fund to go towards reopening of rail line for passengers
Ministers have been urged to use a chunk of a £4.8 billion fund to reopen a West Midlands rail line to passenger traffic.
Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant said the Chancellor's recently announced levelling up fund would be "ideal" to channel into the reopening of the Lichfield to Burton rail line for passenger services.
The line is currently only used for freight trains and has not had any passenger services since the Beeching cuts in the mid-1960s.
Mr Fabricant has long campaigned to get it reopened and has previously held talks with rail bosses over the issue.
He argues that passenger services on the line would relieve traffic congestion on the busy A38 stretch of road between Burton and Lichfield.
Keen
Plans to reopen the line were put in place earlier this year, and include using fuel cell hydrogen-powered trains, as well as a new station added at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas.
Mr Fabricant has pressed Treasury Secretary Kemi Badenoch on the issue.
He said: "The West Midlands Rail Executive and I are both very keen to re-establish the Lichfield to Burton railway line - which currently is used just for freight traffic - for passenger traffic. It will stop too at the National Memorial Arboretum.
"The plan is that the locomotives will be fuel cell hydrogen-powered."
He added: "The levelling up fund would be an ideal fund for this project."
Ms Badenoch, said: "I understand Transport for West Midlands in partnership with Staffordshire Council and the local rail executive have already engaged with the Restoring Your Railway Fund regarding the specific proposal he is referencing, and the Department of Transport has announced there will be a further round of bidding for the fund, which they should be able to participate in.
"Other aspects of the proposal may be eligible for support from the levelling up fund, and the Government will set out more details on eligibility in due course."
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the levelling up fund in last month's spending review, with the cash set to be earmarked for projects that can boost local economies.
