AS I have been consistently raising since I was elected as the local MP, our poor transport connectivity is a barrier to the economic and social transformation we need in our towns.

And while many in the North West are campaigning, quite rightly for improvements and modernisation to their own rail stations and networks, here in our constituency we are still to even have one single station.

The loss of our rail stations in the 1960s has held our towns back from the economic progress seen in our nearby cities and as a consequence Leigh is now the fifth largest town in the country without a rail station.

The issue is not just this perplexing statistic, but given the number of lines and stations before Mr Beeching removed all but scrap metal from our rail transport system, it is both a source of great frustration to many here. It also serves as a handbrake to progress.

This impacts us in two important ways.

Firstly, with restricted A-level provision inside the constituency our young people find it harder to access the further education or apprenticeship opportunities outside of the constituency.

And with high-skilled professional jobs coming into Manchester and Liverpool, residents find it difficult to access these with our roads increasingly gridlocked and no option of rail.

I am pleased the issues of capacity on our roads has been recognised and the further pressures that increased developments will have going forward.

Secondly, the lack of rail connectivity acts as a barrier to inward investment.

Businesses and organisations are far less likely to contribute to an economic renewal in our towns if the transport infrastructure is not there to support them.

I believe this cycle is the most critical barrier to boosting our social mobility in Leigh, which was recently found at the bottom of national social mobility league tables.

However, there is a reason for optimism. In the recent Greater Manchester Spatial Framework proposals, three rail stations were proposed for our community. One in Golborne, one at Glazebury and another at Kenyon Junction.

These proposals are hugely welcome news to me after I last year met with Transport for Greater Manchester, Transport for the North and the Rail Minister to discuss the prospect of reconnecting the constituency to the rail network.

I have already met with Transport for Greater Manchester to express my support for these proposals and offered to meet again in the near future to discuss the proposals in more detail.

I recently raised in Commons the difficulty we face and the opportunity rail connectivity would offer to our community and I am glad that the Rail Minister has agreed to meet to discuss these fresh proposals and how we can work together to make this a reality.

Although rail connectivity will not by itself solve our social mobility crisis, it is clear to me after the local social mobility roundtable meeting last year, that transport is the primary barrier to our future prosperity.

I will therefore continue to raise with stakeholders and Ministers the situation we are facing in Leigh and our hope that these fresh proposals will offer a credible plan that is urgently needed to reconnect our towns into the opportunities of our evolving economy.