Residents and businesses across Teesside will soon be benefitting from direct rail routes between Middlesbrough and London’s King’s Cross thanks to a new deal between the Government and Intercity railways.
Would be Conservative MP for Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland Will Goodhand said “I am absolutely delighted that we have finally managed to secure a direct rail route between Middlesbrough and London. This will help businesses and investment in Middlesbrough and across Teesside. Today’s announcement will be welcomed by all across our area and it is just a shame that Labour have been fighting this since the beginning.”
After today’s good news, Will is hoping to be joined by a senior member of government next week to discuss the Middlesbrough bypass which has been proposed for years. Will said “Road infrastructure and public transport are part of my six point plan for southern Middlesbrough and I will continue to work with ministers to achieve real results for hardworking families and businesses in our town.”
NOTES:
* For the first time there will direct services from London to Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Huddersfield.
* By 2020 the will be 3,100 extra seats at peak times. The operator is investing £140 million to enhance their trains, improve ticket offices and provide more car parking and cycle spaces.
* Across the entire train fleet there will be 12,200 additional seats – a 50% increase;
* From 2018 they will introduce 65 state-of-the-art Intercity Express Programme trains totalling new 500 carriages. These will improve capacity and comfort, and transform services for millions of passengers.
* As well as improving the passenger experience the IEP trains will boost the economy. Hitachi’s Newton Aycliffe factory will create up to 730 new jobs, plus potentially thousands more job opportunities in the UK supply chains.
* The new franchise will return around £3.3 billion to the taxpayer over the eight years of the franchise, while over the past five years DOR returned around £1 billion to the taxpayer.