I am pleased to see that Network Rail has secured a budget from the Government of more than £2 billion to improve the south western rail network that runs through Surrey and the surrounding areas.

The money will be spent between 2019 and 2024 across the route, which runs out of London’s Waterloo station, and represents more than a 20% increase on the existing five-year budget.  The funding will be focused on renewing and maintaining existing infrastructure to stop it failing, giving people more reliable train journeys in the future.

Significantly for us locally in Woking, this money will be used to finance the replacement and widening of Victoria Arch – which will complement plans announced in September by Surrey County Council and Woking Borough Council to change the A320 just south of the railway line.

South Woking currently suffers from poor transport links to central Woking, Victoria Arch is completely inadequate for motorists, dangerous for cyclists and unpleasant for pedestrians.  That is why I have been pushing for Victoria Arch to be replaced ever since I was elected as County Councillor for the area in 2009 – so I am delighted that funding has now been agreed.

As well as replacing Victoria Arch, Network Rail will also improve platforms at Clapham Junction and Guildford, reglaze part of the glass roof at Waterloo, strengthen bridges in Farnham and Stoughton, reduce the risk of landslips in embankments in Pirbright, New Malden and Wimbledon, and replace the track at key junctions.

As a regular commuter myself, I know first-hand that we desperately need more capacity on the railway and more reliable trains, so this commitment of funding is a big step in the right direction and should result in more and better train services from Woking.