Rail electrification vital to Hungerford economy

Newbury MP Richard Benyon was speaking following a meeting with Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin.
Meanwhile, the chairman of tourism and economy for Hungerford Town Council,
former mayor Martin Crane, said he and colleagues were making progress in regeneration plans for the railway station area.
Former minister for transport Theresa Villiers said that, after 2016, diesel turbo trains will not be allowed to run between Reading and Paddington.
This would mean that Kintbury, Hungerford and Bedwyn would be on a diesel shuttle service to Newbury or Reading.
But following his meeting with Mr McLoughlin, Mr Benyon said: “It makes complete sense to continue the electrification process beyond Newbury Station. I am pleased that the secretary of state accepts the recent review which highlighted a positive return on investment and I will continue to work with (others) to ensure
constituents beyond Newbury are included in the new electrification project.”
Network Rail itself states that electrification “will stimulate economic growth across the region by improving connections between towns and cities...more trains with additional seats will improve links to jobs and services and open up new opportunities for businesses.”
Mr Benyon said: “Despite the inevitable cost, I feel this is really important. I’m concerned that people going to London will have
to get on trains at Hungerford, change trains at Newbury and, possibly, again at Reading.
“In any event, the travel experience to and from Hungerford must be improved. We need to draw people alighting at Hungerford into the wonderful High Street which has an enormous amount to offer.”
Mr Crane said the town was crying out for more inward investment and noted: “The President of China is visiting Britain at the moment and looking at huge investment in east London. The Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce want to pull some of that into the western side but, at the moment, such investment stops at Reading and Hungerford and Newbury get left out.
“It should be noted that, in Hungerford, we have high-tech companies such as ADP, the global technology business Vislink, Berkshire Labels and Triteq.
“We may a quiet, seemingly sleepy town but for companies that want the right work life balance, Hungerford is a great place to look.”
Mr Crane said he was particularly keen to see progress on the rail station regeneration and added: “Various people own little bits of the land. We are trying to get them together...there’s the kernel of a really interesting development there if we can put a land assembly plan together.
“There’s an investment opportunity for a major local, national or international investor in property.”