Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Cambridge and Shadow Transport Minister Daniel Zeichner has today attacked the Conservatives for omitting Crossrail 2 from their manifesto, a decision that he says will damage Cambridge. 

He told an audience at the Cambridge Assessment hustings event that cross-party work to lower journey times to and from Liverpool Street to a reliable 60 minutes depend upon Crossrail 2. As co-chair of the London-Stansted-Cambridge Consortium, Mr Zeichner has worked with MPs across the region and Transport for London to make the case for four-tracking key parts of the Cambridge-London line.

Following the event he said: “Crossrail 2 is vital to securing future success for Cambridge. Modern trains need modern track – instead we are living off a Victorian inheritance which cannot provide the smooth, fast and reliable services that passengers are entitled to expect. 

“I hope that the omission is an error rather than a decision – but as with so many other parts of the Conservative manifesto, voters are entitled to know.”

This comes as research shows that passengers would be £1,014 better off under a Labour government. This is the amount commuters would save on their season tickets under plans to bring the railways into public ownership announced in Labour’s election manifesto.

Since 2010, regulated rail fares have risen by 27.1%, increasing the average cost of a season ticket by £594. The 2015 Conservative manifesto included a commitment to keeping rail fares frozen in real terms. However, regulated fares were capped at the Retail Price Index (RPI), which consistently over-estimates inflation, rather than the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Mr Zeichner added: “Labour will cap regulated fair rises at the Consumer Price Index (CPI),using the money saved through bringing rail franchises back into public ownership. 

“Another five years of Tory rule will see rail fares spiral out of control. Britain deserves better.”