THE team behind The Cambrian Heritage Railway is "over the moon" after the Prime Minister confirmed the reopening of the Oswestry to Gobowen line with money marked for the scrapped HS2 project.

Chairman Robert Williams said the confirmation of the funding is “incredible”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said during his address at the Conservative Party conference on Wednesday (October 4) that the scheme would benefit following the scrapping of the HS2 project from Birmingham to Manchester.

Mr Williams said: “We were in the process of attracting funding and the announcement was a pleasant surprise.

“We had a confirmation letter from the Department for Transport confirming the funding but not the timescale.”

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The Park Hall Halt, which serves the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, will also be restored and reopened according to the plans, and this will provide easier transport for patients and staff.

Mr Williams added: “The hospital has around 100,000 outpatient, and that is not counting the staff.

“It will be a great addition and help for them.”

Work on restoring the railway line has been ongoing for decades but has progressed quickly in recent years with the line now open between Oswestry Railway Station and Stonehouse Brewery at Weston.

This next phase would see the station link to the Chester to Shrewsbury mainline at Gobowen Railway Station.

But Mr Williams explained that there might be a ‘lag’ in the timeline.

He said: “This is a significant project so as a result there will be a lag now.

“There is a lot of work to still be done behind the scenes. The Devil is in the details.”

But he also said new public transport options are essential, adding: “You look at Oswestry now and it’s different than when the line was ceased in 1966.

“So there is definitely a market for improvement and giving people options it’s important.”

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He also wanted to thank Roger Date, Helen Morgan MP, Shropshire Council and Oswestry Town Council, for their support.

The line was closed as part of the Beeching cuts which affected railways up and down the country in the 1960s.

The new initiative announced by the Prime Minister has been dubbed 'Network North' and will see £2.2 billion allocated to revitalise local transportation systems in rural areas like Shropshire, smaller cities such as Leicester, and towns like Evesham.