I have met with transport chiefs and council leader Sean Fielding to look at potential options available to improve accessibility at Greenfield station.

As a long-term campaigner for improvements to accessibility at the station, I organised this productive meeting with Sean, Council Officers, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and Northern. We discussed the options to upgrade the access for people with mobility issues at Greenfield station, which is currently very limited.

I am deeply concerned that because the Government has gone back on its commitment to fully electrify the line between Manchester and Leeds, which is when they had previously said they would do works to also improve the station’s accessibility, there are now no plans whatsoever! The meeting was convened to look at what we can do given the Government’s woeful inaction and u-turns.

I will continue to hold this Conservative Government to account demanding that Oldham borough and the North as a whole gets its fair share of transport funding, including for Transpennine services and infrastructure improvements. At the same time, I will work with the Council, TfGM and Northern to look at alternative funding pots we may be able to bid for to upgrade Greenfield station’s accessibility.

Sean Fielding, Oldham Council Leader, said: “I was shocked when I first discovered, some years ago, that in the 21^st century we have a railway station in the borough without adequate disabled access. I was even more shocked when I learned that the official solution to this issue was to advise disabled passengers to get a taxi to another station along the line!

“This is clearly something that urgently needs to be put right. Debbie has long campaigned on this matter and I hope that through our working alongside all the relevant partners we are able to ensure that Greenfield station is made fully accessible very soon.”