Rail freight has been let down in the past, argues one-time rail minister Andrew Jones. He is now member of parliament for Harrogate and Knaresborough, two communities that were left out of the revised plans for high-speed rail in the UK. However, the politician broadly welcomes the improvements he says will come to east-west freight traffic under the revised proposals. The new ‘Integrated Rail Plan’ will, he believes, deliver improvements for trans-Pennine freight services – a view not necessarily shared elsewhere.