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Ben Gummer (Ipswich) (Con)
Setting aside the usual form, Mr Turner, it is a genuine pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I hope, in this short Adjournment debate, to outline the case for investment in the Great Eastern main line.
I know that you are aware of the possibilities in East Anglia, Mr Turner—you have some knowledge of the area—but just to recap, we have in Norwich one of the largest agglomerations of scientific research and development in the country; just down the road from Ipswich, in Martlesham, we have the largest European centre of research and development in software; and we have the largest port in Britain in Felixstowe. Up and down the line we have centres of engineering and technical excellence that complement the amazing growth of Cambridge in our next-door county. Taken together, the counties of this region comprise the second largest contributor to the United Kingdom Exchequer of all UK regions and, indeed, it is one of only two regions that make a net contribution to Her Majesty’s Treasury. This region is already contributing significantly to British growth, jobs and prosperity, but herein lies the problem.
Although we are contributing significantly and growing—indeed, we grew throughout the recession—there is so much more that we could do, if only we had decent infrastructure connections. That is the miracle of East Anglia. It is not so much that all this is going on, but that we have achieved it with the oldest carriages, one of the slowest lines and some of the most expensive tickets for people going to Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich. All that has been achieved, despite the lack of both a motorway and that critical train line.
That is the context of the Chancellor’s visit to Norwich this time last year, when we proposed to him a significant upgrade in railway infrastructure. He commissioned a task force, which I was happy to serve on, under the chairmanship of my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Chloe Smith). That task force was able to bring together critical elements that had been lacking so far, including a broad, robust engineering research project into what was needed to bring additional services, improved reliability and increased speed to the London to Norwich line. We developed such a study to the demanding criteria of the Department for Transport. That is the basis of the report, which was delivered to the Chancellor last week.
In short, the proposal is for an investment in infrastructure of approximately £476 million, allied with a commitment that the 2016 franchise include investment in new rolling stock, not just for the inter-city carriages going all the way to Norwich, but for the suburban and commuter lines that run in between Essex and London and some running between Ipswich and London. Taken together, that new rolling stock and investment in infrastructure will add the capacity, speed and reliability improvements that we need so desperately on our line. At the conclusion of that investment, we would have new rolling stock running at 60 minutes, or just under, to Ipswich and 90 minutes to Norwich, and three services an hour to Norwich and four to Ipswich, with much better reliability than commuters have, sadly, had to put up with recently.
This is a bold proposal, but not extravagant. We are not asking for High Speed 4, but we are asking for a decent railway that will take commuters and business people and travellers reliably, comfortably, safely and quickly between the world’s financial capital and our great regional centres. That is the basis of our demand. We expect to be able to produce in return a potential economic delivery of £4.5 billion, which is almost 10 times the amount of the original investment by the Department, should that be secured—one of the highest gross value added scores achieved by any rail project or proposal yet put before the Treasury.
People may ask, “If this is so blindingly obvious, given the huge economic return, why has it not happened before?” It has not happened so far because the region has lacked the political purpose to be able to deliver such a project. That is what is new. We have brought together local authorities, both district and county, and the New Anglia local enterprise partnership, and the Essex LEP. I should like to put on the record the excellent way the New Anglia LEP has co-ordinated the proposals and the excellent drive it is currently giving to Norfolk and Suffolk, which is delivering real benefits for our counties.
We also brought together all the region’s Members of Parliament. That, too, is different. There was not previously the drive—crucially, a cross-party drive— from representatives in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex that now exists. Our beloved coalition colleague, the hon. Member for Norwich South (Simon Wright), has joined us here and we also had helpful interventions from our colleague, the hon. Member for Colchester (Sir Bob Russell). This has been a cross-party job, with all of us working together—councils, businesses and MPs—to put a coherent case for our constituents. If this investment is secured, we can deliver increased prosperity and more jobs— 10,000 more in my constituency—for our constituents. Most importantly, those will be high-value jobs, with people investing in high-value businesses in Ipswich, Norwich, Colchester and up and down the line. That is exciting.
I ask the Minister to confirm that she has seen the report and understands what we are asking for, and that she is going to lobby the Treasury for what is possibly one of the most exciting rail projects on her Department’s desk.
Although I have said that this is a cross-party arrangement, we have had a difficult time getting coherence from Labour party representatives in the region. The candidate for Norwich South favours full renationalisation of the railways. The candidate for Norwich North proposes that public bodies be allowed to bid for rail franchises, as Opposition Front Benchers have suggested; however, it is sad to see that the Opposition are not represented in this debate on an important matter for our region. That prompts me to conclude that if there were to be a Labour Government and significant legislative change, everything we are proposing would not just be put at risk: it would not happen. The project has to start in 2016—we have one window in control period five and at the beginning of control period six—if we are to succeed in getting new rolling stock ahead of the implementation of disability regulations in 2020.
We have to get this investment now. I know that both the Chancellor and the Department, which we have talked to, understand, yet the noises we hear from Labour suggest that they would first want to undertake a massive reorganisation of the rail industry. Frankly, if they do they will be unable to commit to a new franchise being let in 2016, nor to the kind of investment that is needed. Has the Minister received any representations from Opposition Front Benchers about this project? Do they support it and regard it as valuable? The candidate for my seat has said, in a cavalier fashion, that he cannot believe that a future Labour Government would go back on any proposals accepted by this coalition Government. I am sure the shadow Chancellor would be interested to know about the costed proposal that has been dumped in his lap, but, frankly, we have not heard about that from Opposition Front Benchers either. We accept that it is a large amount of money. It is a significant piece of investment, but it is not extravagant and it is needed. For true cross-party support on this, we need to have not only the commitment of this Government—they have been most helpful in allowing us to bring forward these proposals—but the cast-iron commitment of the shadow Chancellor that he would carry forward this investment, should there be a Labour Government in 2015. We do not only need that; we need the cast-iron commitment of the shadow Transport Secretary that there would be no top-down reorganisation of the rail industry, which would make all this impossible.
I raise those points only because they are the one fly in the ointment, and it is a wonderful ointment. It will make a significant difference to our region and to Norwich, Ipswich and towns in Essex. It will allow us to release our full potential as a key driver of the British economy. Most importantly to us as Members of Parliament representing mixed constituencies, it will give opportunities for jobs and prosperity to people who have so far been left behind, not just by previous Governments, but by previous representatives in our seats. That is why it is so important to us to achieve the investment now, for the good of our constituencies, our region and our people.
Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)
I suggest, Mr Turner, as this debate is more directly relevant to the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Chloe Smith), that she go first. I know that she asked to speak after me, but I feel morally that that is the right thing to do.
Chloe Smith (Norwich North) (Con)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon), who is kind in ceding his place. His moment will come very shortly. It is for me to add to the arguments of my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Ben Gummer). As he capably laid out, this has been a big project. It has been a joint project, and we hope it will be successful. It is new for the region to have three counties working together, and that has been extremely important. We speak today with the full blessing of our colleagues on the task force from Essex—those in Parliament and those in the business community—and the many thousands of passengers who are signed up to the report. We have brought those people together for the first time in this kind of work. We have done the detailed analysis and it was our great pleasure to present that in the past few days to the Minister, the Secretary of State for Transport and the Chancellor, who asked us to set up the task force and put together the work.
My hon. Friend explained the ambition we have for our region. He is, in fact, the originator of the hope in our region that we can be the California of Europe. He is absolutely right to have set out what we could have back for the mere £476 million investment that we ask for. The benefit-cost ratio identified in the report is crystal clear and is higher than that for High Speed 2 at £9.50 generated for every £1 invested. That is another of the report’s strong arguments.
We think that the decision from here is simple. As my hon. Friend laid out, we ask for confirmation of the infrastructure improvements and that new rolling stock be provided for. There is, however, the downside: we cannot go on like this. We cannot go on without the improvements we call for in the report. Our constituents and people throughout Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex—including the tens of thousands of employees, students and passengers represented by those who signed up to the report—pay their way in tickets and season tickets, and they know they are not getting the service they deserve. We know they are not getting the service they deserve, and we have been honest about that in the report. The report is frank in saying that to miss this opportunity to invest would condemn those passengers—our constituents—to another decade of misery on this train line.
We cannot go on with such ageing rolling stock, for a number of very good reasons, one being the reliability problems it has caused. One need only to have looked at the Eastern Daily Press and other regional papers over the summer to have seen the chaos on our line resulting from breakdowns and delays. They compound each other, because of the quality of the stock and the infrastructure we are dealing with. We all have examples of constituents who have been prevented from getting to work at all—indeed, prevented from getting anywhere at all. That is not acceptable in this day and age, particularly given that they are already commuting up to two hours a day each way.
Another reason why we cannot continue with this rolling stock is that in years to come, it will be unlawful under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. That underlines the point that now is the time for action on the rolling stock and the accompanying infrastructure improvements.
Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)
I thank my hon. Friend, my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Ben Gummer) and the task force for their incredibly important work. For all the reasons already given, I would like to see the rolling stock substantially improved, overhauled and, I hope, replaced with new stock. Does my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Chloe Smith) agree that it is important that we consider the working environment provided by any replacement rolling stock? It must be comfortable and must provide free wi-fi for all passengers, power sockets and the various facilities that commuters and those working on these trains need.
Chloe Smith
I endorse the points made by my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour. The task force has been able to secure some short-term improvements—such as the provision of power points—not to all stock across the franchise fleet, but to the InterCity stock that serves his constituents and mine. That, however, just gets us to an equal starting point. We have so much more to do, as the report makes clear.
The task force has laid out the problem and how we can solve it. It has laid out the unique opportunity we have, why now is the time to act, and the consequences of not acting. Such investment does not go ahead without the commitment of Members of Parliament and the partners who worked with us on the report. These things do not happen by accident: we have pulled together a year’s worth of hard work, undertaken not only for those whom we represent, but for many thousands of passengers. I think they stand with us today in saying that these issues must be raised in Parliament, and it falls to us as their representatives to do so. I sincerely hope that we are successful, so that those passengers can once again have faith in their rail service.
Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I will speak very briefly. First, I congratulate the three Members who are here. They are formidable fighters for their commuters. Although the debate is primarily on the Great Eastern main line, I will briefly talk about the problems of rail infrastructure across the east of England. In particular, I will talk about my line—the West Anglia line—because the problems of infrastructure investment are similar.
My constituents, many of whom commute from Harlow and surrounding villages to London, regularly complain of serious overcrowding on trains to Liverpool Street station, despite ticket prices continuing to increase. Does the Minister agree that, in addition to improvements to the Great Eastern main line, more investment is needed across the east of England and Essex and on the West Anglia main line in order to increase capacity on commuter trains and to ensure that commuters receive value for money? We need to invest not only in rolling stock, but in stations across Essex and the east of England, such as Harlow Mill, Sawbridgeworth, Roydon and, obviously, the main Harlow Town station. The smaller stations are badly in need of refurbishment and do not offer adequate protection from poor weather. Will the Minister look into that?
Many commuters frequently raise with me the fact that it is cheaper to travel by London underground from Epping rather than by train from Harlow. In some cases, it costs £25 a day rather than £50. I have just spoken about increasing capacity, but the Stansted Express should stop at Harlow more often and we need better rolling stock. We also need a proper move towards Oyster-isation and the smart-card system that has been promised to us in the past. If the Minister is unable to answer all my questions today, I would be grateful if she wrote to me.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Claire Perry)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I warmly and sincerely congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Ben Gummer) on securing this vital debate on required future improvements in this vibrant region of the UK. I pay tribute both to the Members present today and to the team that has worked so hard with them on the report over the past year. I had the pleasure of meeting members of the team, particularly Mark Pendlington, who leads the New Anglia local enterprise partnership. I know that many others have also been involved in putting together this excellent piece of work.
The report is particularly helpful in that it sets out the underlying value that proper infrastructure development can bring. We are good at modelling transport benefits, but capturing the gross value added and the broader economic benefit is more difficult. However, the report is an exemplar of how to do that. The analysis will help to reinforce the need for and benefits of the vital investments in the transport system that serves the cities and communities of East Anglia, which, as so eloquently pointed out by my hon. Friend, is the UK’s second largest region in terms of economic contribution and is focused on high-value, white-hot growth industries, such as life sciences and biotech.
Of course, it is not only this region that needs rail investment. As my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) pointed out, there is under-investment right across the railway network. In the past 20 years, we have seen record numbers of passengers taking record numbers of journeys. In some cases, however, the railways have kept up. Satisfaction, punctuality and safety have all increased, and EU figures found that we have the most improved railway in Europe. Despite that, extraordinary growth in demand coupled with a lag in infrastructure investment means that we face overcrowding in some parts of the country and areas where journey times may increase. The great thing is that, as a coalition Government, we are finally realising the vital role of investment in transport infrastructure. We are seeing record levels of railway investment and the biggest investment in rail and rolling stock since Victorian times, with £38 billion being spent over the next five years on maintaining, upgrading and improving the network.
Mr Andrew Turner (in the Chair)
Order. I wonder whether the Minister could face the Chair.
Claire Perry
Forgive me, Mr Turner. You are quite right to correct me.
It is an opportune time to review the case for investment in the region, which is why the report is so timely. We have already committed to £170 million of track and signalling improvements on the Great Eastern main line next year and have agreed a package of improvements with the Abellio Greater Anglia franchise, including additional services between Stansted and Cambridge and refreshed trains on the Norwich to London route. I was joined by hon. Friends on a visit to road test some of the improvements. In fact, there is a photo somewhere of my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich trying out the new loo—in a mock-up capacity only. It is good to see that we are not standing still and waiting for investment; we are upgrading in line with what passengers require, which means simple things such as new toilets that do not leak, new carpets and seat covers, plug sockets and new lighting. Regarding wi-fi, which is available to all customers on inter-city services and free to first-class passengers, we are trying to find out the future deployment plans. I agree with my hon. Friends that it is an important part of the package going forward and will write to them.
Abellio Greater Anglia will work with the industry to develop and deliver all the Government’s control period 5 projects, including Crossrail, Great Eastern main line infrastructure improvements, improvements to the Ely area, Stratford to Angel Road capacity improvements, a new station at Lea Bridge, and additional peak capacity in 2014 to 2019 into Kings Cross and Liverpool Street to meet forecast commuter growth. There will also be additional freight capacity. We have not discussed freight, but it is an exceptionally important part of the railway mix, and we are considering ways of unblocking lines to allow both and freight and passenger trains to run. This is an incredibly opportune time for such a report. My boss the Secretary of State and I have both read it, and we are looking carefully at how the improvements might be delivered.
I commend the work that the group behind the report has done to unblock some of the long-held barriers of party political or cross-county agendas. It has been refreshing to see a strong cross-party and cross-county approach to the work. My hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich asked whether I had received any representations from the Opposition Front-Bench team, or indeed any Opposition Member, on this subject, but the answer is no. I am unsurprised, however, given that the previous Government electrified only eight miles of track in 13 years and failed to realise the valuable role that transport plays in building economic growth in regions across the country.
Chloe Smith
Does the Minister agree that it is a great shame that Opposition Members are not present to speak for themselves on the matter?
Claire Perry
It is a great shame, but it does not surprise me.
The Government will now be asking Network Rail how to progress the detailed development of the case that has been eloquently made for the line-speed changes, using the funding provided in the current rail investment strategy, to fund the best-value-for-money elements for completion by 2019. The opportunity for shorter journey times will be included in the development of the franchise to 2016, which is to be awarded from October of that year onwards. That could lead to bidders for the new franchise being asked specifically in their proposals how to address the requirements set out in the “Norwich in 90” report, in particular the totemic achievement of the 90-minute travel time. We propose to publish the consultation for the next East Anglia franchise on 1 December 2014, so it is an important time for anyone who wants to make further representations. In future franchise competitions, we expect bidders to give weight to both financial and quality considerations of rolling stock, focusing on passengers.
It is an exciting time for the rail industry across the UK. I heartily welcome the report, which represents an excellent forensic analysis of what can be unlocked with relatively small investment. I look forward to working with colleagues in taking the recommendations forward.
Ben Gummer
Does the Minister agree that letting the franchise in 2016 is a critical moment for ordering new rolling stock? If that were delayed, the report’s contents could not be delivered.
Claire Perry
My hon. Friend will be reassured to know that the new franchising timetable that my Department has put in place is running like clockwork—like a punctual train—so we anticipate that we will stick to the timetable.
Claire Perry
Just briefly, as I want to make a point about a visit that I am making on Friday.
Robert Halfon
Will the Minister confirm that she will write to me regarding my points about the West Anglia main line and Harlow?
Claire Perry
I was just moving on to what I am going to do. I will be delighted to write to or, even better, meet my hon. Friend to talk specifically about improvements for his hard-pressed commuters.
My hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich will be delighted to hear that I will be in his city—[Interruption.] Excuse me, his town.
Claire Perry
Town, definitely, sir. I will be in my hon. Friend’s town on Friday, where I look forward to attending the Suffolk rail conference and hearing about the importance of investment in the region and understanding a little more about what passengers require.
In conclusion, the report is a wonderful piece of work. I pay tribute to all those involved and look forward to working with my hon. Friends in the room—it would be lovely to have some input from Opposition Members on such an important issue—in trying to implement what is feasible and practicable.