Max Wilkinson

Max Wilkinson

Liberal Democrat — Cheltenham

Speaking in the House of Commons on 10 September 2025

Debate

Stockton and Darlington Railway: 200th Anniversary Festival

Contribution

Thank you, Mr Stringer. Then I shall skip over my anecdote about the excellent Pullin’s Bakery fruit cake served on Great Western Railway services—I hope colleagues in the north also enjoy such delicacies. I have spent many hours on heritage railways, and I believe they give us the important points we need to focus on for railways today. The Stockton and Darlington railway that we are discussing today revolutionised our country 200 years ago. Railways still play a central role in our modern economy, but for too long passengers have felt that they are not getting the services they deserve. The best tribute we could pay to George Stephenson and the legacy of the Stockton and Darlington railway is to modernise our current infrastructure, bring fares down and expand connectivity. In celebrating 200 years of the Stockton and Darlington railway, let us invoke the spirit of George Stephenson and seek to deliver exactly that.

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