Since I was elected several constituents have contacted me about the lack of disabled access to Langley Mill train station, which I have raised in Parliament. Recently, several constituents have contacted me to question why the Government is spending so much money on Ilkeston train station when disabled people still can’t properly access the station at Langley Mill.
Early in July, I took the opportunity to raise this matter in Parliament. I hope that the Department for Transport take some action following my interventions on this matter.
Nigel Mills MP: Does my hon. Friend agree that using footfall as a measure is pretty unfair on a station such as Langley Mill, which has a steep and slippery staircase? It is hard for many passengers to use the train. Perhaps if we had stations that were fit for the modern world, we might get the footfall. It is especially hard to understand when several million pounds can be found to invest in a station a few miles down the line, but a few hundred thousand cannot be found to put disabled access into an existing station.
Rory Stewart MP (Penrith and The Border, Conservative): That is a vital point. It returns us to the general theme, which is that when we have made the big investment, the big bet, a relatively small amount of money would make all the difference in use. The fact that people in Penrith and the Border can get up to Cumbria in three hours and 15 minutes is the most extraordinary transformation—for tourism, for our
economy, for small businesses, for people’s quality of life, for connections to other parts of the country, and for people’s ability to go abroad. All of that is being held back by what would probably be an investment of a few hundred thousand pounds to finish the job.