Last week in the House of Commons I used 'Business Questions' - when you can ask about anything - to raise the issue of re-opening Grove Station (pictured above). During the election campaign I said this is one of the things I would fight for if I became MP, following in the tradition of my predecessors as MP for Wantage and the local residents who have been pushing for it to re-open for over 40 years.
As I said in the Chamber, re-opening Grove station would better connect the people of Grove and the surrounding areas; get people off what are congested and often unsafe roads; and support our efforts to tackle climate change. Pleasingly, I got a warm response from the Leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, who encouraged me to keep making the case. He made me and the other MPs in the chamber laugh by alluding to Wantage being the birthplace of King Alfred the Great and said my efforts were a campaign King Alfred would be proud of - Jacob is the third member of the Government to hear from me on this topic. He encouraged me to 'not burn the cakes', a reference I must confess I had to look up! For those interested, Alfred had been on the run from the Vikings and had been asked by the peasant woman he took refuge with to watch the small loaves of bread (cakes) by the fire, but he got distracted and let them burn.
I didn't promise Grove station would re-open during the campaign and I don't do so now. But the reason I am optimistic we might be able to make this happen finally is because this Government recognises the Beeching Cuts to stations from the 1960s went too far and left too many parts of the country cut off from the rail network. The original Beeching reports proposed the closure of 55% of stations due to the size of the public subsidy required from the taxpayer, and the fact rail use was declining significantly due to the increasing use of cars. Not every closure that was recommended ended up happening, but many did, including Grove. In some parts of the country whole lines closed as a result of the reports.
In the Conservative manifesto we had a pledge to create a £500 million 'Beeching Reversal fund' and this has just launched. It will prioritise those proposals which 'offer the greatest potential, viability and economic benefits', criteria I naturally think Grove meets! I will be working closely with local government colleagues to submit a bid for Grove station as soon as possible. And I'll keep plugging away for as long as this much-needed station remains closed.
