The four Cambridge representing constituencies in and around Cambridge spoke in Parliament earlier in a debate convened by Daniel Zeichner
TL/DR? Have a listen to what each MP said:
- Daniel Zeichner MP (Labour – Cambridge)
- Pippa Heylings MP (Liberal Democrats – South Cambridgeshire)
- Charlotte Cane MP (Liberal Democrats – Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
- See also Ms Cane’s speech on the Ely Railway Junction upgrade – which also references the outline business case here.
- Dr Ian Sollom MP (Liberal Democrats – St Neots and Mid-Cambridgeshire)
The Minister for Housing’s response
You can listen to what Matthew Pennycook MP said here
At the start of his closing speech, Mr Zeichner also suggested that this debate on the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor should be something that is an annual debate in Parliament, to which MPs agreed.
The ministerial response on the Ely Junction delays
The Minister for Local Transport was the Chair of the Transport Select Committee 2010-15, and in a previous life was a student at Cambridge. In the early days of Twitter, one of the first MPs to follow my old (now deleted) Twitter account was the Minister – hence meeting up for coffee over a decade ago when she was on a private visit to Cambridge.
Above – Lilian Greenwood MP visiting Cambridge (she studied at St Catherine’s) back in autumn 2012 when Puffles was on Twitter – we met up for coffee after she posted a tweet about heavy traffic in Cambridge accompanied by a photo of The Cam full of punts.
“We fully recognise the strategic importance of the Ely Area Capacity Enhancements Programme… …We remain committed to supporting its place in the pipeline of future rail enhancements – it will be kept under active review. …The scheme has a a strong business case.”
The Minister also confirmed that the proposed enhancements cover a much wider geographical area, which is why the reports of massive cost increases are not comparing like-with-like. She also confirmed that there were ongoing conversations between the Minister for Rail (Lord Hendy – who cannot respond in the House of Commons) and the Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough re alternative/additional sources of funding, including private contributions. That said, the Minister for Local Government confirmed that her ministerial colleague the Minister for Rail Lord Hendy would be happy to meet with her to discuss the Ely Junction proposals.
The MP for Ely and East Cambridgeshire calls East West Rail to extend to Newmarket
“I would like East-West-Rail to extend at least to Newmarket.”
Above – Charlotte Cane MP to the Minister for Housing and Planning, 03 December 2025
In what I thought was one of the most powerful speeches I’ve heard from the MP for Ely and East Cambridgeshire, she made the case for the railway stations in Cambridge being hubs for a metro-style network.
Above – A map from the consultation for the Greater Cambridge Emerging Local Plan showing the proposed location of a Cambridge East railway station which I wrote about here.
Want to talk about Cambridge East with rail campaigners and experts?
Above – Rail Future East’s annual meeting in Cambridge (which always clashes with the Mill Road Winter Fair!) – do come along and talk trains, trams, light rail, and integrated public transport and active travel!
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The Cambridge Town Owl 