West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin has today welcomed plans to create a new county rail station which aims to reduce journey times to London in under two hours. The new Worcestershire Parkway station is being planned for a site at the intersection of train lines to Birmingham, Bristol and London at junction seven of the M5. The station will allow hundreds of extra passengers to access faster trains to London and other business areas and attract extra visitors to the county from London and the south east. Harriett commented: “Sir Peter Luff has been tireless in his efforts to make the case for the new parkway station and both I and Robin Walker have worked hard to lobby for the completion of the dualling of the Cotswold Line to Oxford. “Our long-term economic plan depends on the completion of these projects and I hope that local commuters and business people will welcome the parkway plans. “I was eager to make the point to the County Council that we must also ensure that this work goes hand-in-hand with improvements to the southern link road and allows us to work towards the dualling of the Carrington Road bridge. “I met with transport experts to discuss timetabling options and I am sure that we will find a way to offer the best possible options for commuters connecting in peak hours to their places of work. ”This is a huge step forward, and I want to congratulate the County Council on their work on this project and I hope that we will, indeed, see a new Worcestershire Parkway station opened by the end of 2016.”