MPs drop to their knees to beg for 230-mile London train link
The MP said he had been campaigning for a direct London service ‘for years;
Kass
Two Members of Parliament resorted to an extraordinary plea in the House of Commons, kneeling to demand a direct railway link between London and the port town of Grimsby.
Sir Edward Leigh and Martin Vickers both dropped to their knees in the chamber, imploring transport ministers to approve the crucial rail connection.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander acknowledged that trains could operate on the route "without major infrastructure changes".
However, she cautioned that additional funding would be necessary to support a new stopping pattern along the proposed line.
Ms Alexander further noted that for services to include a stop at Market Rasen, located in Sir Edward’s Gainsborough constituency, "significant upgrades would be needed" at the town’s station.
Grimsby, a significant port in North East Lincolnshire, lies approximately 230 miles from central London.
“Nationalisation was supposed to put local communities in touch,” Sir Edward told the Commons, referring to the Labour Government’s bid to bring most English rail operators into public ownership.
The Conservative MP and Father of the House said he had been campaigning for a direct London service “for years”.
Dropping to the floor to ask Ms Alexander his question, Sir Edward continued: “What does she want me to do?
“Does she now want me to get on my knees – on my knees – to beg for this train for our local community for which my friend (Martin Vickers) and myself have been campaigning for years?”
The Transport Secretary replied: “I think that’s possibly a first for the Father of the House.
“And I think it underlines the strength of feeling that he and his constituents have about improved rail services.
“He is right, I did write to him on March 17, and whilst we did confirm that we could run trains without major infrastructure changes, we would have to find additional funding to support the necessary service pattern changes.
“And for LNER services to call at Market Rasen, significant upgrades would be needed to the station to enable safe and compliant operation at that station.”
When Mr Vickers, the Conservative MP for Brigg and Immingham, rose to ask a question, MPs shouted: “On your knees.”
After he put a knee to the floor, he said: “That’s two of us pleading with ministers for this service.”
Mr Vickers said LNER, which operates services along the East Coast Main Line out of London King’s Cross, had been “for a number of years” in public ownership, since 2018, “and yet they still can’t provide this service”.
He referred to an application by open access operator Grand Central to run trains between King’s Cross and Cleethorpes, via Grimsby, which the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is yet to rule on.
He asked: “Can the minister give an assurance that with all our pleading, he will at least look sympathetically on that one?”
Transport minister Keir Mather replied that the ORR was “operationally independent”.
