Here, Pippa Heylings sets out her position on the East West Rail proposal:

There is a clear and urgent need for investment in rail and other transport infrastructure in our region and beyond – and successive governments have failed to address this. We must do more to deliver affordable, convenient and green travel to connect regions across the country, and to tackle the climate crisis, and I have called on the government to do their duty and invest in public transport both in Cambridgeshire and beyond. We cannot wait any longer.

Sadly, with East West Rail, the government and the EWR company they created to deliver the project have mismanaged the project from the start; it’s a botched job like HS2. They have failed to win public trust, and failed to take local concerns seriously. They have spread anxiety by sending out letters and door-knockers to residents without any real answers, and then have left residents in the dark when they ask questions about the plans.

The line that is planned is still a diesel railway, rather than a fully electrified line. There has been a failure to demonstrate a clear business case, or to acknowledge the need for the service to bring benefits to local villages who at the same time are facing significant environmental damage and changes to their community. Most serious of all, some villages face being cut off from vital amenities including their local school. For me, it looks like ‘all pain, no trains’ for many South Cambridgeshire villages – and this simply isn’t good enough.

It is right that EWR has decided to pause the statutory consultation process until after the General Election because it is up to the incoming government to determine how EWR goes forward. However, if elected as MP for South Cambs, I would convene all those responsible for transport policy in our area and make sure that there is a joined-up strategy that makes sense, has the funding needed and provides local public transport solutions for local villages, too. There are many transport initiatives being proposed for our area – among them EWR, buses, light rail, cycleways, and it is our duty to make sure they make sense, are integrated, viable and take our environment seriously. Most importantly, I would make sure your voice and concerns are heard by whatever party is in government – putting you before party politics.

The local Conservatives claim to be campaigning against East West Rail when it is their government who have repeatedly given the green light for the project and yet got it so badly wrong, botching this important opportunity to deliver well-planned transport infrastructure to our area. We have had Conservative MPs, including a minister for Transport in Anthony Browne, in this area since this project began and none of them has been able to get a better deal on this for South Cambs. It’s time to hold them to account.