Metro mayor criticises failure to improve rail services in Fenland after government funding announcement

The mayor has been pushing to get more rail services for residents in Fenland, including Whittlesey, where services do not run in the evening.

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The Government announced on Monday that it was investing £2.5 million into CrossCountry trains which will deliver more than 20,000 extra seats a week.

Passengers travelling from Birmingham to Nottingham, Leicester and Cardiff will start to see longer trains on some services from May, delivering more than 5,000 more seats each week.

A further 15,000 seats per week are planned to be in place from mid-2021, including to and from Cambridge and Stansted Airport.

Mayor Palmer has previously described himself as “continually frustrated” in attempts to bring forward a package of improvements to rail services at Fenland stations.

He has called for the county’s mayoral authority to have sign-off rights in the awarding of any new rail franchises covering the area.

Reacting to today’s news, he said: “This talk of levelling up and putting passengers at the heart of the railway is just not reflected in the announcement today.

“The CrossCountry service would be the easiest and cheapest way to improve the rail service to Fenland stations at Manea, March and Whittlesey where currently almost all the services do not stop at Whittlesea and Manea stations or do not run with enough frequency or late enough in the evenings.

“This announcement focuses on only one of the five recommendations made by myself when I met with operators directly, when responding to both the official consultation for the new CrossCountry franchise last summer and repeated at the subsequent Williams Rail Review.

“Longer trains and more seats for passengers across the Midlands will do nothing for the Fenland Service. An ambitious plan is needed to take advantage of the potential for CrossCountry services to support Fenland commuters to Cambridge or even London, which would support increasing public transport use, reducing congestion on the roads and helping the environment.”

Cllr Steve Count, leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “Whilst we acknowledge the CrossCountry train investment announcement from the Government today, it is not enough.

“We have been campaigning for investment in our rail network for many years and we were instrumental in orchestrating Cambridge North.

“We want to see more stopping train services between Whittlesey, March, Manea and Cambridge North from early in the morning to late at night. This is critical to allow people from outside Cambridge to access jobs and housing more easily and spread the wealth being created by Cambridge.

“Myself and Mayor James Palmer acknowledge, after all the effort we’ve invested into this, that phase two – Birmingham to Stansted – will increase capacity on existing trains by two or three carriages by May 2021. However, we are disappointed we have to wait a year and it still doesn’t go far enough in providing the services that the people in Fenland towns deserve. We will continue to speak to government about what more can be done.”