Judith Cummins, the MP for Bradford South, has called on the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling MP, to intervene to stop the transport chaos that is set to occur over the August Bank Holiday weekend when fans will be traveling down to Wembley for the Challenge Cup Final.
The Bradford MP, who is the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Rugby League Group, called the decision to shut the East Coast Mainline “as baffling as it is nonsensical.”
The Secretary of State for Transport responded that he understood her concerns, and that he had “asked the Rail Minister to look with Network Rail to see if any further amelioration that could be made that weekend to ease the pressure.”
In a further significant development, the Transport Secretary has also committed to asking Network Rail and train franchises to “avoid some of the busiest peak weekends” for engineering works in future, including the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Judith Cummins MP, comments: “Many Rugby League fans will now have to rearrange their travel plans for the Challenge Cup Final at short notice.
“It is promising that the Secretary of State recognises the problem, and that he will speak with Network Rail and the train companies to ensure this does not happen again. This may be too little, too late this year, but I am hopeful that it will now not be repeated in future years.
“I will be taking this up directly with the Rail Minister to find out what is being done to help passengers across the weekend, and to discover why this baffling decision was taken in the first place.”
