West Anglia capacity under review

Rail Minister Paul Maynard has told fellow MPs that he hopes capacity concerns on the West Anglia Main Line will be tackled.

Sir Alan Haselhurst (Conservative, Saffron Walden) highlighted the problems facing the route during a question to the House of Commons on January 16. He said: “In view of the increasing number of passengers and employees using Stansted Airport, the growth of the Cambridge biomedical campus, the prospect of Crossrail 2, the announcement of major housing developments and the welcome prospect of new, high-performance trains, what plans has my hon. Friend for increasing track capacity on the West Anglia line to take advantage of those factors?”

Maynard said Haselhurst was right to highlight the concern, and spoke of work carried out by the West Anglia Taskforce. The Minister added: “We are also looking at timetabling, to which I hope he can make substantial contribution. He is right to raise the matter and we are looking at it very closely. Control Period 6 announcements are on the way and I hope that his concerns will be reflected in them.