Labour Party Stifles Debate on Merseyrail

Cllr John Dodd has attacked Sefton Labour Party for stifling debate about Merseyrail.

The Labour controlled Merseyside Transport Authority prevented Merseytravel from taking control of the track that its trains run on. This happened at the last minute, despite Labour campaigning for years to allow Merseytravel to take over control of its own track from Network Rail.

The Liberal Democrats tried to debate this at the recent Sefton Council meeting, as the decision is going to cost Sefton council tax-payers a considerable amount of money. Labour voted against discussing the issue, on the grounds that it "wasn't urgent".

Cllr Dodd said “What have Labour to hide?  At a recent Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority (Merseytravel) meeting the ruling Labour group on the authority refused a debate”.

Cllr Dodd says this is an important issue to the people of Sefton. There should be a full debate on whether an integrated Merseyrail network would be in the best interest of Merseyside's commuters. Local people and rail customers should have a greater say in the decisions taken which would affect the rail network in Merseyside.