The Leader of the House of Commons has said that reopening Ferryhill Railway Station would help the next generation of young people to find work and socialise.
Mark Spencer paid a visit to County Durham on Thursday, August 25 to see the potential new site for the railway station which has been closed for more than 50 years. Ferryhill Station closed in 1969 following the controversial Beeching era cuts to investment.
However, the station is one of nine projects in the country to get a share of £500 million in Government funding from the Restoring your Railway fund to progress the proposal. If successful, the station would link the community to Teesside and become the first step in the proposal for the Leamside Line reopening to connect the community to Newcastle and Sunderland.
During his visit to meet residents in County Durham who would benefit from the station, Mr Spencer said it would not only provide vital transport links for communities but also open up job opportunities.
The Sherwood MP told Chronicle Live: "I think opening Ferryhill Station, which was closed during the Beeching closures, brings huge economic opportunity and also social opportunity as well. If you are the brightest young person coming out of Ferryhill and I offer you a fantastic job in Stockton and you can't get there, that is a huge challenge.
"I think opening public transport networks to the next generation gives huge economic opportunity and opportunity for employment but also opportunity to socialise as well."
The Leader, who was joined by the Rail Minister, Wendy Morton MP, met local county councillor and avid Ferryhill Station campaigner, Joe Quinn. Mr Quinn successfully engaged his community and worked with Sedgefield MP Paul Howell in the campaign for the station to be reopened.
Mr Spencer praised Joe for his determination in securing funding to develop the proposal for the station’s reopening.
"I think it is a really strong bid and if I can help influence the Department of Transport and Treasury to come to a positive conclusion for this part of the country it would be a great opportunity and a great investment," Mr Spencer said.
"It is important to the country that we bring opportunity to everybody. I think there are huge opportunities here to develop the economy and to make sure the next generation of young people can stay in the area in which they were born, and generate economic output.
"So that's good news for this area and good news for the rest of the country as well."
Sedgefield MP Mr Howell welcomed the visit from Mr Spencer and hoped it would speed up decisions so work could get started.
“The towns and villages in the immediate vicinity of the Ferryhill station have some of the lowest car ownership in the country so introducing transport infrastructure connecting them to job opportunities will be fantastic," he said.
“The impact of this investment is a clear and tangible sign of levelling up opportunities for these communities. The recent announcement by Wendy Morton that this had proceeded to a detailed evaluation by Network Rail was very welcome and I hope these visits can encourage pace into the decisions and we can see spades in the ground as soon as possible.”
The Leader of the House also visited Locomotion, a site that was recently awarded £5.9 million of Levelling Up funding via Durham City Council. This will allow the site to open a brand new building - “New Hall”- which will house up to 50 more vehicles and will make Locomotion home to the largest undercover collection of heritage rail vehicles in the world.
Dr Sarah Price, Head of Locomotion, said: “I am excited to welcome Mark Spencer MP to Locomotion today to visit the museum during our busy summer period and to see plans for our newest collection building which will open next year. The building is part of a wider programme of regeneration which will help us celebrate Shildon’s unique role in the development of the railways, displaying up to 50 additional vehicles from the national collection and creating a lasting legacy for the area.”
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