NEWTON Abbot MP Martin Wrigley led a Westminster debate on train services in the south west saying they have suffered from an historic lack of investment.
It has been claimed train passengers in Devon and Cornwall are being left out in the cold as billions of pounds are spent on high-speed rail projects elsewhere in the country.
Lib Dem Mr Wrigley said: ‘In the south west, we can often feel like second-class travellers, watching our services get worse so that other services can be made better.’
Mr Wrigley told MPs the vulnerable railway in and out of Devon is an economic lifeline, and the 2014 storm which closed it for eight weeks had cost the local economy more than £1 billion.
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But funding for a crucial fifth and final phase of a huge project to fortify the line has still not been agreed, and Mr Wrigley said there are fears it could be ‘quietly forgotten’.
Transport under-secretary Simon Lightwood, Labour MP for Wakefield and Rothwell, said the government is still in talks with Network Rail about the final stage of the Dawlish and Teignmouth defences.
Mr Wrigley is also concerned about years of disruption ahead as work continues on a massive new station at Old Oak Common in London, just outside Paddington.
The 14-platform station will be a hub for the HS2 high-speed line linking London to the north of England.
Services from Paddington will be disrupted for years as Old Oak Common takes shape.
Over the recent Christmas and new year period, trains didn’t run into Paddington whilst engineering work took place, with passengers instead having to use Euston, to the north of London.
That is likely to happen more frequently as work progresses.
Mr Wrigley said: ‘Old Oak Common will impact south west rail services for another six or seven years as it is constructed.
‘I have already started to receive complaints from constituents about the inability of Euston station to cope with the volume of passengers.
‘But the piece of the plan that adds insult to injury is the idea that every GWR train will stop at Old Oak Common, adding five to 15 minutes to every single journey.’
Rachel Gilmour, Lib Dem MP for Tiverton and Minehead, said rail services in the south west are inadequate, and punctuality is ‘pitiful’.
She added: ‘Even when the service is scheduled, and appears to be all-functioning, there is always the risk of cancellation.’
She called for more resources and said: ‘I appreciate that the pressures on the public purse are heavy at the moment, but so are the pressures on ordinary people in Tiverton and Minehead.’
West Devon Conservative MP Rebecca Smith pointed out the Tories had increased investment in the rail network by £100 billion, including £165 million on rail resilience projects in the south west.
She said that while the government had said there is no more money to spend in the westcountry, it had pledged money for a Crewe to Manchester line.