MP welcomes decision to reopen Oswestry to Gobowen rail link

MP Helen Morgan said she was "absolutely thrilled" by the decision

An MP has welcomed the announcement that scrapping HS2 will enable the reopening of a historic railway line.

Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire, said she was "absolutely thrilled" the government had committed to opening the line between Oswestry and Gobowen.

It was shut in 1966 during the Beeching Cuts, which saw thousands of stations closed and lines axed.

Rishi Sunak has announced money from the cancelled HS2 project will be reinvested in reopening the line.

He also pledged to reinvest in other transport projects, including £250m for schemes such as Shrewsbury's North West Relief Road.

Ms Morgan had renewed efforts to get the railway line reopened, with proposals having been presented to the government for a light railway to link Oswestry up with the main line at Gobowen.

"We've got 20,000 people in Oswestry with no train service, so getting them connected into the line is really good and I'm thrilled," she said.

She told BBC Radio Shropshire the strategic outline business case had looked at the catchment area for the station and had concluded it was a "good value money project to invest in".

"I just think we need to get more people into Oswestry to see how great that town is.

"And we need to get people who live in Oswestry accessing all the things that are available to them in a much wider area," she added.

The Prime Minister made the announcements during his closing speech at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Wednesday.