The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Stephen Hammond)
I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Saffron Walden (Sir Alan Haselhurst) on securing this evening’s debate on investment in the West Anglia line. I was, of course, slightly perturbed when he opened his speech with remarks about castigating every Government since, I think, 1970—I cannot quite remember the year.
This is an important matter to my right hon. Friend and his constituents, to other Members of Parliament and their constituents and, of course, to all passengers using the line. My right hon. Friend and my hon. Friends the Members for Hertford and Stortford (Mr Prisk) and for Harlow (Robert Halfon) have all made the point that the two-track commuter line between London and Stansted and Cambridge is very busy. The commuter flows it carries are some of the busiest around. It covers not only the areas they have talked about but carries commuter flows from Essex and north-east London and provides the link with Stansted airport.
I recognise that demand has been growing quickly and significantly. To explain to my right hon. and hon. Friends some of the investment that has been made, it might be helpful to consider the line in separate parts. Demand has been growing quickly, particularly in the lower Lea valley, and the Government’s rail investment strategy has provided approximately £80 million to deliver three and four-tracking at the south end of the route. That will allow the introduction of some new services, will increase operational reliability, and should support regeneration in the lower Lea valley. I hope that my right hon. and hon. Friends will recognise that that shows that the Government are aware of the need for four-tracking.
The Department also rightly recognises that there is some suppressed demand as regards the need to connect the West Anglia line with Stratford in east London. My right hon. Friend made that point. We are taking steps to address it and Stratford is increasingly becoming a destination for leisure, retail and entertainment in its own right. It is therefore becoming a significant transport interchange. It is important that we ensure that the connections into that significant place in east London are operationally the best they can be.
From 2019, Stratford will become part of the Crossrail network through Crossrail 1, providing direct connections to a large number of destinations. I accept that that will have a knock-on effect through London and the West Anglia line. The important point is that as soon as the Crossrail operation starts in 2017 there will be the chance to introduce new connections to the West Anglia line. I recognise that this is not in my right hon. and hon. Friends’ constituencies, but to suggest that the Government have done nothing about the line is not exactly true as there has been investment in new stations at the southern end of the line and the new stations fund is also starting to work through, as can be seen with the new station at Lea Bridge and the new services between Angel Road and Stratford.
Robert Halfon
As I mentioned to my right hon. Friend, I have done a survey with commuters. We know about Harlow Town station, but one of the big concerns was the lack of facilities at Harlow Mill station. The ticket office is open only during weekday mornings, closing at 11.15 am. There are no toilets and very little shelter from bad weather, despite trains to London leaving once every hour. Will my hon. Friend look at this and see whether there are any plans for the Government to invest in this station?
Stephen Hammond
My hon. Friend is right to point out the concerns of his constituents. As Ministers, we try not to get into the micro-management of the toilets of various stations, as he will understand. None the less, I will look at the matter.
The point which I hope my hon. Friend will consider is that, yes, there are some concerns about ticket offices and this is a feature across the whole network, but many people are choosing to buy their tickets in different ways. Although important, ticket offices are not central to many people’s buying habits. He is right that there should be facilities, and there has been a new stations fund and a station improvement fund.
My right hon. Friend the Member for Saffron Walden spoke about the new franchises and what might happen. I hope he might have had a chance to look at the east coast prospectus. Although we are not saying that every new franchise will be of a particular length, we are encouraging longer franchises, particularly in that franchise and the prospectus that we have released. I hope my right hon. and hon. Friends will acknowledge that we have given the operators the chance to recognise some of the things they could do to the benefit of customers outside the standard package. There is a real determination from the Department in the new round of franchising to understand that the consumer must be at the heart of the franchise bids. I hope the prospectus that we have released for the east coast main line will show that.
There is demand not only at the southern end of the line. Cambridge is a fast- growing economy, making a significant contribution to the local and the national economy. That is why we continue to make significant investments in that part of the route as well. The station at Cambridge will undergo significant redevelopment, provided the planning authority comes through. In addition, we are working with Network Rail and Cambridgeshire county council to develop plans for a new station at Chesterton, approximately 2 miles north of the city centre, as well as providing direct access to the rapidly expanding science park, for which rail connections are key.
Throughout the line brand-new 379 class trains are already operating the service between London Liverpool Street and Cambridge, which is benefiting customers along the whole West Anglia main line, including, as my right hon. Friend rightly acknowledged, his constituency, particularly at Audley End. These trains are modern, spacious, high performing, high capacity and highly reliable, and they are widely recognised by passengers as a benefit and an increase in the service.
I shall make a few specific remarks about my right hon. Friend’s constituency, or I would be castigated for failing to do so. I have just mentioned the 379 class trains and I know he recognised that his constituents were benefiting from them. I hope the introduction of those trains will see continually improving reliability on the route. My right hon. Friend, as well as my hon. Friends the Members for Harlow and for Hertford and Stortford, commented on the concern about overcrowding. This is undoubtedly the challenge for the next decade. It is the challenge of the success of the railways. Twenty years ago I used to travel from Hertford North and Hertford East. Services may or may not have got worse in the past 10 years, but they are a significant improvement on 20 years ago when the line was known for its unreliability. This is the challenge of success. Privatisation has brought a doubling of the number of passengers on broadly the same network as we had 40 years ago. That success means that we now have to meet the challenge of overcrowding.
With the introduction of the new Thameslink trains, which will come into service post 2016, and some of the financing of that rolling stock cascade, there will be an opportunity for the trains currently being used on Thameslink to be cascaded to other locations. There is no reason why they could not be used on the West Anglia rail line in future.
Sir Alan Haselhurst
My hon. Friend moved rather swiftly from lauding the type 379 as a high-performance train to identifying some Thameslink trains that might be passed down to us. There is quite a distinction there. I had rather hoped that he might indicate that we would not lose the 379s in the way I suggested, or indeed that he might try to give some encouragement to the idea that whoever gets the franchise after 2016 will be committed to having more of the 379s or their equivalent.
Stephen Hammond
I can give my right hon. Friend some Christmas cheer by confirming that the 379s will be staying on the West Anglia rail line and will not be moved in the way he suggested. When we consider the new franchise for post October 2016, I am sure that the need for rolling stock enhancement will be part of the tendering process.
As I highlighted at the beginning, I recognise that there is a key limitation on the West Anglia rail line: it is a very busy two-track railway. The plans to three-track and four-track some of its southern sections will undoubtedly be welcomed right along the line. However, my right hon. and hon. Friends are right to recognise, and to pursue, the aspiration for faster and more frequent services. That could be met only by infrastructure interventions.
Four-tracking of the route could undoubtedly be part of that intervention. Unfortunately, if we look at it in the short term, that is unbelievably expensive. The plans developed by BAA in 2007, when it ran Stansted airport and there was higher demand, merely to three-track a section of the route were estimated to cost between £800 million and £1 billion. At the moment, such investment would represent a significant portion of the Government’s rail investment budget. It would therefore require a robust business case. In the medium term, that business case might be made, but my right hon. Friend was right to acknowledge that the Government are spending more on railway infrastructure—£19 billion between 2014 and 2019. None the less, my right hon. and hon. Friends are right to make that case, and I hear them making it.
In the medium term, the Government are supporting the development of the Crossrail 2 proposals, which would link the West Anglia rail line with the South West main line via a tunnel under central London and free up capacity for increased services. Plans are still in the early stages, but the Government are supportive.
In the shorter term, there are still some opportunities for us to improve capacity, reliability and journey times along the route. With the active participation and support of local stakeholders, I am keen to look at some of the short-term operational restrictions linked to level crossings and user-worked crossings. Where trains currently need to reduce speed on the approach to such crossings, I would like to see them able to maintain running speeds and therefore reduce journey times and improve operational reliability.
The Government are looking to develop the rail investment strategy beyond 2019. That work will be influenced significantly by an Anglia route study that Network Rail is shortly to begin. The study, which is due to report in 2015, is aimed at identifying the priorities for investment in the Anglia network. Right hon. and hon. Members will also be aware that the Chancellor announced in his autumn statement that the study will place special attention on the services between London and Stansted, and that extra focus should deliver benefits to passengers right along the West Anglia rail line.
I heard the comments by my hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford about the London First proposals, which are currently just that. In addition, the interim findings of the independent Airports Commission are due shortly. Clearly, Ministers are not aware of what its recommendations might include, but they will provide some greater clarity on the long-term future of Stansted airport and the future capacity that it might need regarding the rail network, and that will inform decisions regarding my hon. Friend’s constituents.
On the Network Rail study, I encourage my right hon. and hon. Friends and, indeed, all Members representing constituencies along the route to make clear and reasoned submissions to Network Rail. It is important that those representations come from local authorities, local enterprise partnerships, businesses, passenger groups, and of course Members of Parliament. That will help to make a compelling case for future investment. I have no doubt that if that case is made, the Government’s rail investment strategy post-2019 will feature the West Anglia rail line very heavily.
My right hon. Friend the Member for Saffron Walden asked about devolution to the Mayor and TfL. The devolution proposal applies to only three routes, it will happen post-2015, although no formal dates have been agreed as yet, and it will result in a transfer of staff and trains to the Mayor’s jurisdiction. I understand that that will probably not make my right hon. Friend as happy as my earlier announcement.
Robert Halfon
While I completely agree with my right hon. Friend the Member for Saffron Walden (Sir Alan Haselhurst), will my hon. Friend consider extending Oysterisation to Harlow, as has been considered in the past, or at least examine the possibilities of smartcard technology so that the many Harlow residents who commute to London can get the benefits that people commuting from other stations, including Ware, now have?
Stephen Hammond
My hon. Friend will know that we are undertaking a smart ticketing trial in various other parts of the south-east network. I am happy to consider his proposal. If he were to write to me and seek a meeting, I would be delighted to discuss it with him in greater depth, and with any other Members who wish for the further extension of smartcards to their area.
My hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford mentioned several times the problems we had with the storm a few weeks back. I particularly remember travelling on that line all those years ago when it was one of the worst-hit lines. I think he will recognise that in certain places a large number of trees overhang the line, more so than on many other commuter routes, simply because of its structure. I am afraid that there was also a certain amount of overhead line damage that significantly delayed the reintroduction of services. None the less, he can be assured that the Secretary of State and I, and other Ministers in the Department, took a great interest in the situation and were in discussions with Network Rail about trying to ensure that lines were brought back into service as quickly as possible.
As I said, it is important that passengers and other interested parties influence the West Anglia route study. That is a chance to make an important contribution to the case for significant investment in the line post-2019.
I am delighted to have been able to respond to this important debate. My right hon. and hon. Friends have rightly made the case that we should not take our eyes away from the problems of overcrowding that their constituents suffer. I have been able to talk a little about some of the investment that is going in and is planned. I hope that that will have given my right hon. and hon. Friends at least some reassurance that the Government take the West Anglia main line very seriously.
Question put and agreed to.