Cross-party deal to press for station
RAIL: A Conservative MP has joined forces with York’s Liberal Democrat council to secure funding to open a new railway station in the village of Haxby.
York Outer representative Julian Sturdy has backed York Council’s bid for finance from the government’s New Stations Fund, pointing out the large catchment area it would serve.
A CONSERVATIVE MP has joined forces with York’s Liberal Democrat council to secure funding to open a new railway station in the village of Haxby.
York Outer representative Julian Sturdy has backed York Council’s bid for finance from the government’s New Stations Fund.
He has pointed to the large catchment area that a new station would serve and the positive impact that a train link to York could have in reducing congestion on local roads.
Haxby has been without a station since 1930, when increasing competition from local buses killed off the passenger train service. The original station was on the York to Scarborough line, which remains operational.
Mr Sturdy has also supported a bid submitted by fellow Yorkshire MP Graham Stuart for funding to explore the reopening the York to Beverley line. If successful, this investment would come from a separate Restoring Your Railways Fund aimed at disused lines.
Mr Sturdy said: “Earlier this year, the Government invited MPs to submit expressions of interest for funding from the Restoring Your Railways Fund to reopen old railway infrastructure in their local areas. They also opened a new round of the New Stations Fund and invited local authorities to submit bids.
“Given that City of York Council had already announced their intention to develop a business case to reopen Haxby station, I decided that rather than starting from scratch, the most effective means of securing the funding was to support the council’s bid to the New Stations Fund.
“I have now submitted a letter of support for their bid and I will do everything I can to lobby Network Rail and the Department for Transport on behalf of Haxby in the next phase.
“A longer-term ambition is to reopen the York to Beverley line and I am delighted to be a signatory to an expression of interest submitted by Beverley and Holderness MP Graham Stuart. The Government will announce the next round of schemes to be developed further later in the summer and I hope to see the York to Beverley line amongst them.”
The former Haxby Station building is now a private house so a new site would be required, but reopening is feasible as the line is still in use.
The plans to reinstate the York to Beverley route are much more ambitious, as the track was lifted during the Beeching cuts period in the 1960s and there has been development over several sections. Some stations have been demolished and others have been converted for other uses.
This route had intermediate stations near York which would be convenient for commuters today, including Earswick and Stamford Bridge. It also provided an alternative path to Hull and had stations at Pocklington and Market Weighton, which lost their rail links completely.
A longer-term ambition is to reopen the York to Beverley line.
Julian Sturdy, MP for York Outer.