IN THE 18 months of being an MP I have sat on five Bill Committees, the latest being the Armed Forces Bill Select Committee which I will be involved in until the end of April.

Bill committees take newly proposed legislation and scrutinise it line by line and suggest amendments. They can take days, weeks or months. My colleagues on the Assisted Dying Bill Committee would find their scrutiny sessions ran long into the night.

Sitting on a Bill Committee is a substantial time commitment, and the Railways Bill Committee was no exception. Line by line, we examined the legislation to establish Great British Railways (GBR) as a new publicly owned company. Despite the long hours, it was an insightful experience, and I had the opportunity to work alongside MPs who are knowledgeable about our rail network and passionate about fixing our fragmented railway system.

My colleague Laurence Turner, MP for Northfield, shared a brilliant article about the clandestine days of Cornish Railways before British Rail shut it down in 1986 and removed the St Piran’s flag from the engines. One Guard, Vic Millington, apparently used to walk through the train as it crossed the Royal Albert Bridge, announcing: “Have your passports ready please.” One of the reasons I joined the Committee was to make sure Cornwall was represented in rail reform discussions and to push for reliable rail connections in and out of Cornwall.

GBR will reunite a fragmented and expensive rail network and put passengers back at the centre. This is important to Cornwall, with its slow, precarious and poorly defended link to the rest of the country. Next year when GWR are nationalised, we’ll start seeing the GBR logo and livery on trains, stations and websites, bringing our railways together under one publicly owned brand. This is about delivering for passengers, not private shareholders.

One of the things I’m excited about in the Bill is the new duty to promote rail freight and set a growth target. Freight is transformative for economic growth and sustainability, so I was pleased to see that the overall target is to increase freight by 75% by 2050. During the second reading of the Railways Bill, I highlighted the importance of freight and the enormous opportunities it presents. It would be fantastic to reconnect Falmouth Docks to the rail freight network, unlocking greener trade routes for Cornwall, and I will continue to push this project on.

And we have the rail fare freeze, the first in 30 years. Under the previous Government, fares rose by 60 per cent between 2010 and 2024, so a freeze is long overdue. It will save passengers £600 million this year alone. When people are struggling with the cost of living, this makes a difference.

Railways are at the heart of our country. They are one of the most efficient and sustainable ways to travel, and they need to be affordable, accessible and reliable, especially here in Cornwall. It was a privilege to sit on the Railways Bill Committee.