Here that train a comin’
It’s exciting times in Moseley. It seems that Mr Mayor, Andy Street, has kept his promise and started immediate work on opening Moseley station. Maintaining his reputation as the sort of man that gets thing done, he has started getting things done.
He told us “I woke up on Saturday morning and realised a new day had dawned on the West Midlands, both literally and figuratively. I threw off my 4.5 tog Hungarian goose feather duvet, ripped open my Alexander leaf lined curtains and remembered the promises I had made to the good people of Moseley. I said to myself “Andy, you’re a man of your word and you told the people of Moseley that they would have a new railway line and by Jiminy that’s what you’ve got to give them”. So I telephoned for an Uber on my Apple iPhone 7 plus and headed for Woodbridge Road.
After spending years working behind the tills I’m used to working on a Saturday, that’s what you get with a man of business. Anyway, I’ve been using my Spear & Jackson digging spade and I’ve made two trenches that the metal things will go in. I’ve got a man coming on Wednesday to plug it all in. I think you should be able to use the train on Friday, we probably need to let it settle in a bit because of health and safety. If there are any problems let me know, I’ll be in Sutton Coldfield building one hundred thousand executive homes”.
So, it wasn’t that difficult after all.
Andy Street cannot take credit for the reopening of Moseley train station. Martin Straker-Welds (Labour) initiated reopening Moseley train station and negotiations were already in the very final stages of before Andy Street was elected. Labour put the cogs into motion and all parties backed the idea. It is no more Conservative’s initiative than it is any other party’s. Andy Street spent an extra £1 million on his campaign, before financial restrictions on party campaigning were set. However, reopening of the station was set to happen anyway. If any other party leader had been voted in as Mayor, he or she would be executing the same actions.
Really? I wouldn’t say Martin Straker-Welds is any more responsible for us not having a station, and having no prospect of one, than anyone else that has promised it over the last 20 years.
Did you misread my message? Labour initiated the plan to reopen the station in 2012, all parties backed the reopening and Andy Street (who had little to do with it until recently) is now executing the actions West Midlands mayor, of any party, would be doing, now that all negotiations are complete. The work had already been done before Andy Strrpeet came on board.
No, I didn’t misread it.
Every Councillor that Moseley has ever had has at some point got the business case signed off and all the money in place. Then it never happened.
Just as it won’t happen this time.
It was the Labour party and Dr Beeching who closed a third of British railways in the first place!