MAY I thank MP Mr Mark Jenkinson for continuing to push for the reinstatement of the Silloth to Carlisle railway line.

It seems only yesterday I was standing in Abbeytown Infants School watching railwaymen removing the line with an old steam engine. Since then many things in Silloth have changed. All the aircraft hangars have been put to good use as industrial sites. This has had the consequences of Silloth Docks being well-used, serviced by a procession of articulated lorries that travel through the middle of the town.

There are three roads out of Silloth. The road to Wigton, which is sufficiently inadequate for articulated lorries to lose sight of it on a regular basis. There is the highly inadequate road to Aspatria where in places two lorries cannot pass each other if they meet. Then there is the coast road to Maryport which is in the process of falling into the sea as a consequence of rising sea levels and will not be with us much longer.

When that happens, Silloth will have two choices: Build a brand new road to Aspatria or reconstruct the railway network we once had. I regard the second option as being more likely.

As sea levels rise in West Cumbria, the coastal railway line will have to be abandoned and replaced by reconstructing the internal railway network we once had. It would be wise of government to place the internal railway system on a care and maintenance basis in preparation for that day.

Roy Ivinson

Silloth