Local Basingstoke MP Maria Miller has welcomed the strong support for improving Basingstoke’s mainline rail connections at Hampshire County Council’s Rail Summit held on 8 January.
Speaking after the meeting Maria said, “Both the County Council and the Local Enterprise Partnership have voiced their strong support for major improvements to the mainline rail connections in Basingstoke. I held a debate in the House of Commons last month and a local transport summit in Basingstoke to highlight the importance of trains in helping to ease the growing road congestion problem in the Borough.
"This meeting hosted by the County Council has galvanised the support of the LEP and Network Rail. I look forward to working together to ensure we secure the investment needed. We already have one of the most over crowded rail lines in the country. We need more, longer, faster trains right now. But in the longer term we also need to reduce the congestion on our roads by giving Basingstoke residents more transport choices. At the moment just 4.6% of Hampshire residents use the train to go to work. Increasing the number of people who use the train for their daily commute could help ease the traffic jams we have on our local roads and motorways.”