Helen calls for progress on Oswestry – Gobowen railway

Helen Morgan has called for the Government to “get the wheels turning” on restoring the Oswestry to Gobowen railway link.

Oswestry, the largest town in North Shropshire, currently has no railway station. Residents rely on the nearby Gobowen station to get onto the mainline, having to put up with often unreliable buses not running during evenings or Sundays.

The town’s MP is following up her earlier calls to the Secretary of State for Transport to move ahead with planning for the scheme, which would reconnect Oswestry to the railway line for the first time since the Beeching cuts.

A strategic outline business case was submitted to the Government last September but nearly a year later and no decision has been made. Despite previously promising a decision by spring 2023, Rail Minister Huw Merriman has failed to provide any positive update on progress to repeat requests from Helen Morgan.

Helen is now planning a roundtable event in Parliament to highlight to politicians in Westminster how much worse public transport is in rural areas like North Shropshire. She intends to connect local campaigners with Government and rail representatives as she pushes the campaign to reinstate the rail link forward.

Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire said, “There are few towns the size of Oswestry with such poor public transport links. Despite the obvious rail heritage you see around town, Oswestry Railway Station has not been open since 1966.

“The plans have been with the Government for almost a year now. It’s time to get the wheels turning and make the project happen and I will fight tooth and nail to make that happen.

“I’ve already been in touch with the Secretary of State for Transport and Transport for Wales over making the plans viable, and will be campaigning to get residents involved and show our decision-makers how important a link to the mainline would be for Oswestrians.”