Local Tory MEPs celebrate EU funding success

Conservative MEPs have expressed their delight that a vital EU funding bid for train line improvements in East Anglia has been provisionally approved.

Once fully accepted, £8 million of EU funding will be invested into the Felixstowe to Nuneaton railway improvement works to allow more freight to be transported by rail. It is hoped this will alleviate congestion on the busy A14.

Conservative MEPs for the East of England have long been pushing for a bid to be made. Last month, Geoffrey Van Orden, Robert Sturdy and Vicky Ford supported Network Rail's application with a joint letter to the European Commission, after a long campaign to get the Department for Transport to seek European funding.

Mr Van Orden commented, "We have been fighting for this for years - we are delighted that we're at last on course to secure such a significant sum of money to benefit the people of East Anglia. EU funding is in reality nothing more than British tax-payers money recycled through Brussels, so it's important we see more of it being put to good use for local benefit."

Mr Sturdy said, "We will be doing everything we can to make sure this bid is successful, now it has provisional approval from the TEN-T committee."

Mrs Ford, newly elected in June, added, "Conservative MEPs are delivering on their election promise to continue to work hard bringing even more funds back to the Eastern Region. This is an example of our success - every penny counts in this recession."

_____________________________END________________________________

*Note to editors: the Felixstowe to Nuneaton railway line is one of a network of priority routes across Europe eligible for EU funding called the Trans-European Network.

Geoffrey Van Orden, Robert Sturdy and Vicky Ford are Conservative MEPs for the East of England.

For more information, please contact Mr Van Orden on geoffrey.vanorden@europarl.euorpa.eu or ring 0777 852 7298 or +32 2 28 47332

Back to all posts