Great Western Railway Routes

Debate between Andrew Murrison and Kevin Foster

Monday 8th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Foster]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his interesting intervention, and I am sure that the Minister will wish to respond to his detailed point. In the Public Accounts Committee discussion, one of the main issues was the signalling that was installed in the 1960s. When the piling was done, the cables were not mapped. Hopefully, as with the re-signalling in Devon and Cornwall, knowing exactly where the signalling cables are might make those lines more suitable for future electrification.

[Dr Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. He is talking about electrification in south Wales, but does he agree that it is also important to electrify at least part of the route from Paddington to Penzance? Does he welcome the proposal to bring forward AT300 Hitachi trains, which are bimodal? Given the speeding-up of the service that that would introduce, does he share my concern that we could be tempted to delete some stops along that route? That would be a pity—perhaps he will come on to this point—since it would mean that some of our constituencies would simply become transit corridors. Does he agree that Westbury station, which is a vital north-south-east-west hub, must not be deleted from any forthcoming plans in the new franchise?

[Kevin Foster]

Having changed trains at Westbury, I share my hon. Friend’s concern about maintaining the ability to interlink with the rest of the region. As we have said, this must be about viewing the railway not as a transport network in aspic that we stand around like trainspotters, discussing exactly how long it will take and what number train will travel down that line; this is about where people want to get to, linking economies and ensuring that people can use the service. I share my hon. Friend’s concerns, and I am sure that colleagues in south Devon and neighbouring constituencies would be concerned if we sped journeys up by driving past passengers. This is about improving the network for everyone, not just making it quicker to get from one end of the network to the other with nothing in between.

I am conscious that time is moving on and that I am stretching your patience, Madam Deputy Speaker, so I will try to press on because other colleagues wish to speak. The introduction of bimodal trains due in 2018, as my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison) mentioned, will make a real difference and open up many opportunities for our region, not least because it will allow the potential for partial electrification on sites that would most enhance the journey time. In the past, for obvious reasons—not least the potential impact of mixing high-voltage cables and sea water at Dawlish—a purely electric train might not have been considered west of Exeter, but bimodal trains will give us real options for future development. Again, that is why the reports are so important.

I could reel off a long list of issues that affect train lines, including prospects for new stations in my patch for the first time in decades. However, there are five issues that I believe it is most important for the Minister to consider as we look ahead to the work in control period 6. The first is whether funding for the two reports that will form part of the work of the Peninsula Rail Task Force will definitely be provided. I know that Network Rail is, in its own words, ready to start work on that immediately once that funding is confirmed. Secondly, is there a clear commitment to the re-signalling work for Devon and Cornwall that is scheduled to take place in control period 6? Thirdly, will the project to secure our main line at Dawlish be committed to, including any work needed to secure the cliffs? Fourthly, will work to secure the line against flooding on the Somerset levels and other key points be progressed? Finally, will the electrification project to south Wales be completed with a view to being part of an electrified network for the Great Western region, rather than just an electric cable running through the middle of our constituencies?

Those are clear questions, but I believe the benefits are also clear. We must ensure that in the 21st century, the vision for the Great Western line is as great as it was when Victorian engineers rode the route on horseback, imagining what could be in the future. They could not have imagined the type of trains that they would have, or the uses to which people would put the railway, but they could see that in building a railway they would build a region. I believe that we can do the same now and show similar vision, and I commend the motion to the House.