Vince Cable

The rail companies are preparing for a big expansion of local rail provision in the next few years and Network Rail is moving to acquire the disused Feltham Marshalling Yard (on the Hounslow/Richmond border) for parking trains over night.

Vincent Cable MP was told, at a meeting at the House of Commons, that the Government is close to agreeing a plan to extend trains from 8 to 10 carriages and these need space nearby to park. The Airtrack project is also moving ahead and will use the Marshalling Yards too. Vincent Cable met rail executives, together with Rob Gray of the environment charity Friends of the River Crane (FORCE), to ensure that the use of the Marshalling Yards fits in with a plan to extend Crane Park to the north.

Vincent Cable said: "I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that the railway people are so bullish about improving our rail services. It is also gratifying to see that old railway sidings are finding a new use as part of an expanded, modern rail network.

"If the longer trains and Airtrack both proceed on their current, rapid timetable there is now a prospect of more, less crowded trains servicing the Borough. There are still a lot of practical problems to overcome including platform enlargement and the level crossings in Richmond. But I sensed a willingness to address them. There was also a recognition that regeneration of the long derelict Marshalling Yards could be a valuable catalyst to opening up the whole of the Crane Valley for recreational use and improved nature conservation."