Commons Sense

It was nice to see the Queen make a surprise visit to the new Elizabeth line last week. The opening of the Elizabeth line is a historic moment for our country – an example of truly extraordinary, world-class British engineering, which will benefit millions of passengers – dramatically improving transport links, cutting journey times and providing additional capacity across the network with cutting-edge trains and spacious, accessible stations.

It will be transformational, particularly for Slough constituents travelling into London.

On Monday, I joined the Mayor of

London, Sadiq Khan, alongside Government Ministers, Labour colleagues and TfL staff for the official opening.

Introduced by a Labour Government back in 2005 and completed by a Labour Mayor, the Elizabeth line is a shining example of how an ambitious approach can transform the rail network and grow our economy.

The Elizabeth line alone is set to add an estimated £42billion to the UK economy, showing the power of connecting communities and businesses through rail.

For Slough, it will significantly benefit our town’s connectivity and there is now the potential for even more businesses to locate their offices and operations here.

Whilst it will run initially as three separate railways, services from Reading, Heathrow and Shenfield will be connected by tunnels from autumn this year.

The line is expected to serve up to 200million passengers every year and will provide a much-needed economic boost to our capital and the South East.

Ensuring Slough constituents have easier access to central London and eventually directly connecting us all the way to Essex will be hugely beneficial for businesses, commuters and tourists alike.

I strongly believe rail should be a driving force in our recovery from the pandemic ensuring everyone has access to a green, affordable public transport.

If we are to hit our Net Zero ambitions, we need more fantastic projects like Crossrail across the country to reduce our carbon emissions and find more sustainable ways to travel.

That is why I was pleased to see £10.4million awarded to build a cycle superhighway in Slough, to make travel in our wonderful town cleaner and greener.

I hope we can build on this fantastic progress, making our transport systems work better for us.