SHADOW Transport Secretary Mary Creagh has signed up to the Grimsby Telegraph's campaign in support of retaining the direct rail link to Manchester.
She became the 4,517th person to sign the petition while in North East Lincolnshire to address a Hull and Humber Chamber Of Commerce lunch about transport plans under a potential Labour Government.
Having already told how she was keeping a close eye on the "quite rightly controversial" consultation as part of her speech to about 80 business leaders, she told the Telegraph: "There are clearly very, very strong feelings about this and rightly so. Manchester is the biggest city in the north, and the airport link is vitally important. The train really needs to stay.
"Cleethorpes is also, for West and South Yorkshire, a key holiday destination and it is important the people of Manchester have access to our beautiful Lincolnshire coastline."
Earlier she had told of the importance of different methods of transport being linked up, an issue that would be exacerbated if the Manchester route was pulled.
She said: "Good aviation links are vital for competitiveness and future economic success. We want better integration with airports, and I want to see regional airports flourish."
She said she was pushing Government on clarity over recent announcements about regional airport incentives.
At the lunch, held at Laceby's Oaklands Hall Hotel, Mr Mitchell related his disgust at plans to ship out rolling stock to other parts of the country, a factor Mrs Creagh said was influenced by a lack of certainty about longevity.
With a topical reference to the filming of Grimsby by Sacha Baron Cohen, he said: "We are the area that Santa Claus forgot and Borat remembered. That's the difficulty we face. People forget what a wonderful area it is to work and live.
"This proposal (to axe the direct link to Manchester) must be withdrawn and the consultation extended. To cut off a direct service to Manchester Airport is a serious blow to travel in this area."
Turning to London, he said: "We need a direct connection. We are the only place with a population of 150,000 within 180 miles of London which hasn't got a direct service. We need it for development of the economy, we need electrification and we need strengthening of the track. Built on marsh, the speed limit is less than the speed limit of the motorway that runs alongside it. It is ridiculous."
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