The evidence strongly supports the claim. The "Croydon bottleneck" refers to the complex rail junctions around Selhurst/East Croydon on the Brighton Main Line, and the scheme designed to address it was the **Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme (CARS)**, a £2.9 billion project involving track remodelling, station upgrades at East Croydon and Norwood Junction, and bridge works. Multiple sources confirm that the previous (Conservative) government cancelled this scheme: 1. **Transport Minister Simon Lightwood** stated in a Westminster Hall debate on 17 March 2026: "In response, the previous Government took the decision to cancel the scheme at the 2021 spending review, although regrettably that decision was never actually formally communicated to stakeholders. No further development work has taken place on CARS since then." (TheyWorkForYou / Hansard) 2. **New Civil Engineer** (24 March 2026) reported: "Lightwood confirmed that the scheme was officially cancelled by the previous government, although this was never formally communicated." 3. **BBC News** reported that "the project had been paused by the previous government in 2022 without notifying stakeholders" — a slight discrepancy in timing (2021 vs 2022), but the core fact of cancellation by the previous government is confirmed. 4. **Inside Croydon** (June 2021) reported at the time that Network Rail's chief executive Andrew Haines said work on the Brighton mainline (CARS) would be "mothballed" as part of government post-COVID cutbacks. There is a minor discrepancy between sources on whether the cancellation happened at the 2021 spending review or in 2022, and between terms like "cancelled," "paused," and "mothballed." However, the ministerial statement in Parliament — the most authoritative source — explicitly uses the word "cancel" and attributes the decision to the previous government. The substance of Starmer's claim is accurate: the previous government cancelled work intended to address the Croydon bottleneck. Sources: - TheyWorkForYou (Westminster Hall debate, 17 March 2026): https://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2026-03-17c.253.0 - New Civil Engineer (24 March 2026): https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/mps-demand-revival-of-croydon-rail-overhaul-due-to-fundamental-link-with-gatwick-expansion-24-03-2026/ - BBC News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8x7l992k7wo - Inside Croydon (June 2021): https://insidecroydon.com/2021/06/28/brighton-mainline-rail-improvements-to-be-axed-in-tory-cuts/ - UK Parliament Hansard (3 June 2026): https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2026-06-03/debates/051DBB77-8D86-47FD-91B3-95DD68A17CC0/Engagements