Michael Fabricant will be meeting with John Armitt, Chief Executive of
Network Rail, and other executives today (31st March 2004) to discuss their
£22 billion 10 year business plan to upgrade the rail system and, in
particular, the 4 tracking of the West Coast Main line north of Lichfield in
Armitage and Handsacre and south in Fisherwick.

"The upgrade of signalling and widening of the track from 2 to 4 routes will
enable a more frequent direct train service to London and to the north from
Lichfield Trent Valley. I welcome this. Lichfield is expanding in size and
is attracting the sort of people who hold down senior jobs in London and
elsewhere and need a good rail service. The recent changes in the timetable
I agreed with the Strategic Rail Authority and its plans for future
expansion of services would not be possible without these works." says
Michael Fabricant.

"But I do recognise that this will cause considerable disruption to
residents in Handsacre and Fisherwick and one of the issues I will be taking
up with John Armitt is how this can be minimised and to whom constituents
can complain if they encounter difficulties. I am keen that there should be
a LOCAL complaints hotline – rather than some national service, perhaps
outsourced to a call centre in India! This is important as there will be
some road closures during the construction period and someone needs to be on
the spot with detailed knowledge and contacts to deal swiftly with local
queries and complaints."