Torbay MP Adrian Sanders
After seven years on the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee Torbay MP Adrian Sanders has put in for a transfer to join the Transport Select Committee.
According to Adrian, the Transport committee covers some of the most important issues in our region from rail, road and air links to maritime safety, fuel costs and parking charges.
He said: “One of the main long-term inquiries we will be pursuing will cover the High Speed 2 development. As well as looking at the detailed plans and scrutinising the value for money of the various aspects of the development, from the train carriages used to the speed of construction works, we will also ask the wider questions over the Government’s overall transport strategy.
“I have long argued that the far South West has had a raw deal in terms of rail investment; we have the oldest trains in the UK, some of the slowest journey times, some of the highest fares and importantly very fragile rail infrastructure that leads to problems such as those recently experienced in the floods.
“All of this has a detrimental impact on our local economy, pushing us further behind better connected areas like London.
“For a tourist economy that relies on people travelling easily to and from the area, Torbay really needs better links to the outside world. We will have the new bypass to bring our road links in to the 21st century but I will be doing all I can to make sure our rail links follow the same path.”
If you would like to learn more about the Transport Select Committee, you can do so on the Parliament website here.
