Mayor rails over councillor’s ‘pie in the sky’ idea for a new station
TEES VALLEY mayor Ben Houchen has hit out at a councillor’s proposals for a new rail halt in Redcar describing them as “pie in the sky”.
In a withering assessment, Mr Houchen also claimed Councillor Chris Jones had “no grip of the reality of the situation”.
Coun Jones said he had been frustrated in his attempts to get the mayor’s Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) to consider potential plans for a rail halt and footbridge between the existing stations at Redcar East and Longbeck.
The combined authority rejected the idea of a “costly” fullblown feasibility study, stating the focus should be instead on improving access to the current stations in the area.
The Liberal Democrat councillor said it was spending millions elsewhere on rail infrastructure improvements and his was a relatively
small-scale proposal. A briefing by the combined authority said the proposal was not new and had been considered as part of a potential light rapid transittype system mooted by Cleveland County Council in the 1980s.
Plans for a new station covering The Ings were further assessed in the early 2000s with it being included in various rail options intended to further enhance public transport provision in the Tees Valley. But an assessment in 2008 said there was “not much evidence” at present to support a station up to 2030.
TVCA said its rail investment strategy was “based upon upgrading capacity in the existing network to provide new and more frequent services”.
Mr Houchen said: “We’re ploughing millions of pounds into improving Redcar, Redcar East and Longbeck stations and links to and from them.
“These are pie-in-the-sky ideas from someone who has no grip on the reality of the situation.
“Our team took days producing a detailed report showing exactly why creating a brand new station between Redcar and Redcar East – just a 20-minute walk from one another – simply doesn’t make any logical sense.”