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Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
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Lilian Greenwood
Labour took action in government, and I am happy to say that transport spending in the eastern region increased in real terms during our time in power. In our last year in office, it stood at £1.494 billion, but I do not deny that a new approach is needed. That is why I will set out our proposals for a real devolution programme with transparent and fair regional funding. Unlike the Government’s proposals on devolution, ours include democratic accountability.
The prospectus makes a powerful case for investment in East Anglia’s rail network, but Government cuts have made it less likely that the funding will be found.
The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Mrs Theresa Villiers)
It is simply not true that the Government are slashing spending on our railways. We have embarked on the biggest programme of capacity expansion in the rail network since the Victorian era. The hon. Lady should get her facts right.
Lilian Greenwood
I am sorry that the Minister felt the need to spell that out, because she is wrong. She is cutting money from planned rail investment, and there will be an impact when hon. Members seek investment. I look forward to hearing what she has to say on the high-level output specification and what it means for not only East Anglia, but other parts of the country.
The hon. Member for Suffolk Coastal has said that she was reassured that
“it is not on the Government’s Agenda to reduce passenger rail services.”
She will surely hope, therefore, that the Government do not follow the model they adopted when they issued the west coast invitation to tender. The document allowed bidders to reduce daily stops at stations by up to 10%. Any reduction in service would be compounded by the McNulty report’s ticket office closures in the counties represented here today. Colchester Town in Essex, Thetford in Norfolk, and Whittlesford Parkway in Cambridgeshire, to give just a few examples, all face having their staff withdrawn. I am sure that the hon. Lady, having secured the debate, will also put pressure on her Government to ensure that existing services in East Anglia are protected. [Interruption.]
Passengers are already feeling the pinch. Services are overcrowded, and the Government have decided to increase fares by 3% above the retail prices index for the remainder of the Parliament. They have also given train operating companies the freedom to average out the rise, leading to fare rises of up to 11% next January. When personal and family budgets are under great pressure, with some commuters paying as much as £4,000 or £5,000 for their annual travel, the Government should be on the side of East Anglia’s commuters, not vested interests in the rail industry. [Interruption.]
The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Mrs Theresa Villiers)
I join other hon. Members in congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal (Dr Coffey) on securing the debate and providing a timely and valuable opportunity to discuss the future of rail services in East Anglia. I take on board the points that many of my hon. Friends made about the unity behind the prospectus that was published yesterday. I am well aware that regional rivalries go back to before the time when Boudiccan hordes burned down Colchester, so it is no mean feat to unite Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, and the whole of East Anglia.
We fully recognise the importance of good transport links in East Anglia; that is why the vital dualling of the A11 got the go-ahead. My hon. Friend the Member for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss) and others were right to highlight the importance of housing growth and the provision of infrastructure to support it. My hon. Friend the Member for Mid Norfolk (George Freeman), with his characteristic insight, analysed the economic benefits of transport improvements and the potential for expanding life sciences in East Anglia. Like everyone else on the coalition side of the House, I acknowledge the importance of getting the cost of running the railways down, so that we can take the pressure off fares and respond to the kinds of points that have been made by several hon. Members, including my hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel).
Punctuality and reliability, which are obviously crucial, were raised by my hon. Friends the Members for Suffolk Coastal, for Witham, for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter), and for Ipswich (Ben Gummer). The period of poor service that came about with the start of the franchise was very unfortunate. Abellio has apologised to its customers. I am hopeful that lessons have been learned. Performance has improved significantly since a problematic start. I welcome the collaborative work that is now under way between Abellio and Network Rail, with a view to improving infrastructure performance and ensuring that possessions are managed more efficiently.
The resilience and reliability of the infrastructure remains a concern. I have no doubt that the rail regulator will continue to scrutinise Network Rail’s record and press for improvement. Network Rail is, however, working hard to address the problems, with a major renewal of the overhead line equipment, which has been one of the greatest sources of vulnerability over recent years. The Government are also taking action to crack down on cable theft, which Network Rail highlighted for me as a key problem for the reliability of the network.
Improvements are on the way. Parts of the east of England will benefit from Thameslink. Others, in Essex, will benefit from Crossrail, as we have heard. The work on Beccles loop is happening, thanks partly to support from Suffolk county council. I recognise the aspirations for progress on the western section of East West Rail, and the possibility of a future link between Cambridge and Oxford. Of course, progress is being made on the central section, which we hope will provide momentum for further progress. I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich on the crucial importance of upgrading freight connections, particularly between Felixstowe and Nuneaton, to ensure that we relieve pressure on the roads by providing an attractive freight alternative on the rails. The Government are committed to continuing to invest in improving our railway’s capacity to take freight.
The extent to which we can fulfil all the aspirations that have been talked about today, and to which we can achieve goals of the kind set out in the prospectus, will depend on the funds available, and, of course, a careful assessment of competing priorities around the country. I got the message loudly and clearly—
Mr Peter Bone (in the Chair)
Order. On the point about loudly and clearly, it would help if the Minister faced forward, so that the microphone could pick up what she is saying.
Mrs Villiers
Thank you for that steer, Mr Bone.
Later this month, we will publish our high-level output specification, to cover what we want the rail industry to deliver in the 2014-to-2019 period. Some of the larger headline schemes are likely to be directly mentioned in the statement, but most of the projects needed to deliver the general outputs that we will set in that statement will not be explicitly listed, so the July statement will not have all the answers on exactly how the benefits of rail improvements will be shared around the country. It will be followed by an industry process to decide which upgrades are needed to deliver the specified outputs, overseen by the Office of Rail Regulation. I assure hon. Members that careful consideration will be given to the points made about the Ely North junction and other improvements today. I should mention that this HLOS statement, like the last one, is likely to contain certain general funding pots that are to be made available over the five-year period, which could be used to support various different schemes around the country, including in East Anglia.
The forthcoming long franchise for Greater Anglia will be important in answering the questions we have heard today. We are granting a longer, more flexible franchise, because we believe that that will give the train operator a stronger incentive to invest in the improvements passengers want, including better trains and stations. We expect the next Greater Anglia franchise to start in the summer of 2014, and to last for up to 15 years. Our reforms to franchising put passenger satisfaction and service quality at the heart of the outputs that we require train operators to deliver. We will work closely with bidders and Network Rail to see how we can maximise the opportunity to integrate decision making more effectively between track and train management—that is another aspiration in the prospectus—and we will also require the next franchisee to introduce ITSO smart ticketing across the franchise.
Ben Gummer
Will the Minister reflect on a comment made by my hon. Friend the Member for South Suffolk (Mr Yeo)—that in essence rail travel has not really changed for the past 50 years? The long franchise gives a tenderer a fantastic opportunity to have a rethink about passengers and how the railway experience works, and to do some innovative things. That can be managed only in the 15-year context that the Government are setting.
Mrs Villiers
I agree that a long franchise can give many more opportunities for a train operator to innovate, and for us to draw private sector investment into the railways.
We will launch a public consultation on the next Greater Anglia franchise later this year. A detailed business case will be developed, and, drawing on the results of the consultation, we are likely to appraise a range of improvement options. As to what goes into the franchise, I emphasise that we have no plans to remove daytime passenger services from the Felixstowe branch line, which was a matter of importance to my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal. Although Hutchison Ports has proposed the change, it has an obligation under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to fund the required infrastructure upgrades.
We have heard many other aspirations: there are the half-hourly services called for by my hon. Friend the Member for South West Norfolk, and the specific service changes called for by my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester (Sir Bob Russell). Decisions on those will be made only after the consultation has taken place, but I shall ensure that this debate is fed into the process.
Mrs Villiers
I am afraid I do not have time; I have only a couple of minutes left.
As for aspirations such as “Norwich in 90”—a campaign for that has been led by my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Miss Smith)—it is too early to say what the franchise will specify for the train service between London and Norwich. However, in making such decisions we will need to take into account the interests of all the communities on the line, and those who live in intermediate destinations such as Chelmsford and Colchester. Whatever train service we adopt, we shall encourage bidders to put together affordable proposals for improved journey times and a better customer experience.
We did some work on options for Norwich to London before letting the short franchise, and that suggested that spending about £10 million to £15 million on new locomotives and refurbishing existing passenger vehicles would make it possible to save about seven minutes on most trains, and that could be funded in a 15-year franchise from additional revenue. However, that is just one option. We hope that franchise bidders will devise alternative plans that either cost less or produce greater benefits for passengers.
One factor, of course, that bidders will have to take into account is the requirement to make modifications to rolling stock by 2020, to provide proper access for people with reduced mobility. In response to all hon. Members who talked about the state of the rolling stock—some of it is fairly elderly—let me say that there will be changes over the next few years because of the deadline. The decision on whether that will involve targeted improvements, full refurbishment, new rolling stock or a combination of all three lies in the future, but change will have to be made. In the meantime, Abellio is pressing ahead with a deep clean of rolling stock.
In conclusion—