HALTON MP Derek Twigg was yesterday handed special governmental responsibility for railways and light railways - including the Merseytram scheme. Mr Twigg was promoted to junior transport minister in Tony Blair's reshuffle on Monday. And he revealed he is confident the Government will stump up the cash it has promised for Line One of Merseytram if final costings are deemed acceptable. Mr Twigg said: "Light rail is going to be one of my responsibilities and obviously just before the election Tony McNulty brought up a £4.2m cheque for pre-development works on Merseytram. "The simple answer on the finance is that we're waiting to receive the final costings for the scheme. If they stack up I'm sure we will move forward." The Government has provisionally pledged £170m towards the £228m cost of Line One, though both those figures are based on 2003 prices and will rise. Railways have been somewhat of a poisoned chalice for politicians in the UK for well over a decade - with the modernisation of the West Coast main line particular problematic - but Mr Twigg said he was heartened by definite signs of progress. He said: "I have used the WCML every week since I became an MP on my trips down to Westminster - I have never driven to London - and it went through very difficult times. "But I've seen the improvement over the last six to 12 months though of course there is still more to be done." As Halton MP, Mr Twigg has been at the forefront of the campaign for a second Mersey Crossing between Halton and Runcorn - now rebranded as the Mersey Gateway campaign. He's hopeful of a quick decision from the Government he's now a part of but played down hopes he could become a major voice for the bridge within Whitehall. "I won't be able to take part in any of the decisions regarding the bridge because of the conflict of interest I'd have," he admitted. "But Alastair Darling has said he hoped to have a decision in the first half of the year and I'd hope we can still stick to that. "We are just awaiting some final information in terms of the outstanding issues on traffic modelling and the environment. "There are regular meetings taking place with officials from Halton and the department, and those will continue." Mr Twigg said his first few days as minister had been a blur of briefings with civil servants and he was still "just learning." "I'm delighted to have this job. Transport is such an important issue, not just for Merseyside and Cheshire but for the UK. There are a lot of challenges to be met, to continue the improvements we've already seen." The Labour MP was returned in Halton with a majority of 14,600. andykelly@dailypost.co.uk | 
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