BEN HOUCHEN: Second platform helps Hartlepool transport get back on track

Ben at the station with Coun Shane Moore.

I was delighted to join Hartlepool Council Leader Shane Moore last month to announce plans to boost capacity at Hartlepool railway station by bringing the old second platform back into use, improving rail transport for local people and businesses.

For a long time, local people in Hartlepool have been crying out for this, and I’m pleased that we can now make this a reality. Hartlepool railway station is the busiest single platform station in the UK and the third-biggest station in the region, welcoming 650,000 passengers per year, which is why I signed off £1.5million earlier this year to begin developing the project.

This station provides a direct line to connect Sunderland to the north, and York and London to the south, as well as across our other boroughs. Securing more funding and improving Hartlepool station will help us secure more services, which means more and better journeys for our businesses and local people.

This work is just the latest step in how we’re giving the thousands of passengers across our region the faster, more frequent and better-quality services they deserve, which makes it easier for people to access the hundreds of jobs we are creating across Hartlepool, Teesside and Darlington.

Our Routes to Work scheme has also surpassed all targets and expectations and been doing a fantastic job of targeting people who need help most. It’s helped give hundreds of people the self-belief, skills and training they need to get back into the jobs market and have a rewarding career.

To help us create more local jobs for local people, I would urge businesses to take advantage of the Kickstart scheme - a £2 billion fund aimed at creating hundreds of thousands of high-quality 6-month work placements to those aged 16 to 24 who are on Universal Credit and are deemed to be at risk of long-term unemployment.

So if you are a business and you can give a young person a chance, the Government will pay their wage bill for six months and my team will help you to navigate the red tape and apply for this, and by working together we can improve the career prospects and life chances of hundreds of young people across the Tees Valley.