Westminster Hall
3 November 2026
Contents updated on 4 Nov 2026
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Westminster Hall House of Commons
Follow its sittings00:03 - 00:09
Speaker 2
Order. Order. Josh Newbury to move the motion.
00:09 - 01:52
Speaker 1
Thank you very much, Ms. Jardine. It's a pleasure to open this afternoon's debate with you in the chair. As we all know, the great British weather is something that we love to talk about, but it isn't particularly predictable, and it's becoming more and more extreme as a result of climate change. Although I was motivated to apply for this debate by the impact of this summer's heatwave on train services in my constituency, I suspect that honourable members will have come to this debate with a huge range of weathers in mind, and I'm sure will be hearing something akin to the 10 Plagues of Egypt this afternoon, reflecting the diversity of our great nation. And I suspect that for many passengers on the Chase Line, the turning of the seasons into the warmer months now brings a familiar question: will the train make it to Rugeley?
That's not quite the seasonal tradition people have in mind. We might have hoped for a little sunshine, a trip away, or an afternoon in the garden, but we now will probably have to check whether or not we can get a train home. Passengers along the Chase Line know the problem well. As temperatures rise, delays and cancellations become more frequent. Services are canceled at short notice, journeys are cut short, and the trains that do run are often overcrowded.
And when they do run, services are often halted at Hednesford, with the dreaded rail replacement bus completing the journey to Rugeley Town and Rugeley Trent Valley stations. My constituent, Allan, who heads the Chase Line Rail Promotion Group, rightly asked me to tell the House that for many months this year, trains were not reaching Rugeley for much of the day. At best, services were cut from half-hourly to hourly, and passengers often didn't even know where to catch the bus. As honourable members will have heard from their constituents, missing a train is not just an inconvenience, as the Tannoy often says. It can mean missing an appointment, arriving late for work, or having even to lean on friends and family just to get home after a long day.
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