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Rail link public meeting

Published: 02/04/2014

Join the debate about improving sustainable transport and rail links in Flintshire with local entrepreneurs and guest speakers this Friday. Deeside Industrial Park Business Forum is welcoming residents and business owners to a meeting to discuss the region’s rail infrastructure and the high speed rail plans for Wales and the UK. Entrepreneur and CEO of Deeside-based telecoms repair and support company Comtek, Askar Sheibani will chair the meeting alongside the president of the business forum, Lord Barry Jones on Friday 4 April at Days Hotel, Garden City in Flintshire. Speakers will include the Rail Users Association for the Wrexham to Bidston line, HS2 Ltd Community and Stakeholder Manager in the North West, Raj Chandarana, and Joe Rukin from Stop HS2, the campaign to stop the high speed rail link. This is the only public event so far in Wales with two high profile presenters from opposite views involved in a national debate. A question and answer session for attendees will follow. In September last year, the Deeside Industrial Park launched a campaign demanding improvement to the Wrexham to Bidston rail route, which is infrequent, unreliable, slow and poorly maintained, with no plans for it to be electrified. The route connects Wrexham – home to Glyndwr University – to strategic business hubs, such as the Deeside Enterprise Zone, Wirral Waters Enterprise Zone and the Liverpool City Region, so could provide considerable economic benefit to the area if upgraded. Investing in this and other similar train lines offer an alternative, more localised way of upgrading the rail network, and is in stark contrast to the UK Government’s HS2 plans, which aim to build superfast railway links between the already well connected and more prosperous London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester. Askar Sheibani said: “I am delighted that we are continuing to drive our campaign forward to electrify the Wrexham to Bidston rail route, one of the most important rail links between North West England and North Wales, at the next Deeside Industrial Park Business Forum meeting. Despite news that the HS2 rail project should be accelerated, we remain focused on proving to the UK Government the advantages of investing in local projects which address the heart of the UK rail problem. Only by better connecting the areas that people live in the UK, will we build a stronger economy across the breadth of the country, rather than simply boosting a few, already wealthy, cities.” If you would like further information on HS2, or if you would like to attend the Deeside Industrial Park Business Forum’s open meeting on Friday 4 April, 1:30pm to 3:30pm, please contact Brian Chaloner at Brian.Chaloner@flintshire.gov.uk and register your name.