THE MP for Delyn has given a speech in the House of Commons talking about how plans for a new railway station for Flintshire could help transform his constituency.

Rob Roberts MP spoke of how a new railway line in the Holywell and Greenfield would be 'transformative' for the area and its residents.

That part of Flintshire has been without a service for rail passengers since the Holywell Junction station in nearby Greenfield closed in 1966.

Plans for a new station, located at the same site, would provide a long term and sustainable driver for the future economic wellbeing of Holywell and North Flintshire linking in with the local Active Travel Plan.

One of those who has long campaigned to see the return of a railway line in the area is Delyn MP Rob Roberts.

On Friday, January 28 he gave a speech in the House of Commons on how a new railway line could benefit his constituency and the residents living within it.

In his speech, Mr Roberts said: "In the case of my constituency of Delyn, I have long maintained that the thing that we need most of all is excellent transport links.

"Delyn will be one of those constituency names that will have people scratching their heads and wondering 'where's that?' with some residents not even realising that this particular part of Flintshire in North East Wales has that name.

"But, we've got Deeside to the East of us with light industry of the industrial parks there as well as a major manufacturer in Airbus and then Chester further East of that with connections to Liverpool and Manchester from there. Significant job opportunities in all those areas.

"To the West, we have the stunning North Wales coast, which brings not only a joyful experience but a further opportunity for jobs in the thriving North Wales tourist sector.

"My constituency includes a 15-mile stretch of that coastline from Oakenholt in the East to Gronant in the West and, along that coastal path, we find some of the most deprived areas of Delyn.

"Broadly in the middle of that stretch we find the town of Holywell and its adjoining village of Greenfield. Much of Holywell and Greenfield is in the top twenty percent of the most deprived areas of Wales, some part in the top ten percent.

"With those pockets of deprivation comes the obvious difficulty of not being able to afford the rising costs of running a vehicle to get to work even if suitable work can be found locally.

"Addressing the fundamental causes of this deprivation is key - the most pressing of which is clearly improving the transport network. As part of the 2019, GE campaign the vast majority of doors I knocked on in Holywell and Greenfield were consistent and strident in their request that a new train station was established to serve their region."

Mr Roberts added that, in the week leading up to his speech in the House of Commons, he had asked constituents for their feed back on the project. He revealed that, of the dozens of comments he received, 'every single one of them was positive and supportive'.

He added: "This could be absolutely transformative for the town and enable people to get to an increased number of better-paid job opportunities. Studies have shown that only eight percent of available jobs in the region lie within half and hour's public transport travel time of Holywell. But more than 160,000 vacancies come into view within a 90-minute journey.

"Sadly, a 90 min journey from Holywell on the bus would only take you as far as Chester in one direction and Llandudno in the other. The equivalent journey on the train would take a quarter of the time. Anything that can be done to cut the public transport journey times should make these jobs much more accessible in an affordable way and should be an absolute priority to help the residents of these deprived areas to get themselves onto a more solid footing in life."

Parliamentary under-secretary for the Department for Transport Robert Courts MP replied: "Infrastructure improvements are needed in order to level up the Holywell area of Delyn. These improvements would help to bring Delyn constituents closer to the job opportunities that my honourable friend has to referred to."