Road Investment Strategy

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Andrew George

Monday 1st December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. This work will definitely reduce the impact of traffic on two villages and remove a major bottleneck from the main road to Fleetwood. He has been a strong applicant for investment in his area, and I hope that this will help the investment drive that he has led.

[Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)]

The Chiverton to Carland Cross A30 section is a notorious bottleneck, and the investment announced today is very welcome. What it may do, however, is shift the bottleneck further along the A30 between Rose-an-Grouse and Long Rock, and a scheme for that was scrapped nearly 20 years ago. Would my right hon. Friend recommend that the local authority bring forward that scheme again? Clearly, the investment is needed across the whole stretch of the A30.

[Mr McLoughlin]

I am sure Cornwall council will want to look at the implications of the announcements that I have made today. It has often produced imaginative schemes on which we have been able to work with it. If the council feels that the plans will lead to further problems, of course I would want to work with the council to try to alleviate them.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Andrew George

Thursday 20th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

I hear what the hon. Lady says. I was able to announce some improvements that were welcomed with regard to an early service from Plymouth to London. I hope that goes some way to answering the question. I appreciate the points made by the hon. Lady and the way in which this particular incident had a dramatic effect on the south-west. We need to look at resilience down there. We also need to look at what we can do with regard to both rail and road, and we have already committed ourselves to an intensive investigation of the A303.

[Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)]

Further to that, it is important that we get a resolution on the temporary franchise as quickly as possible. In congratulating my right hon. Friend on getting a solution in Dawlish, may I ask which Government Departments contributed the finance to ensure that that very expensive project was brought to a conclusion?

[Mr McLoughlin]

May I use this opportunity to place on record my thanks to Network Rail—I am sure that I speak on behalf of colleagues in the south-west as well—for responding magnificently to the problems that were faced in Dawlish? Anybody who has read about the continuing work to restore that link will be only impressed with the work that has been put in by Network Rail, which is often criticised for actions on the railways. I hear what the hon. Gentleman says about finding the funds. The Government will find them and I am not too worried about which Departments they will come from.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Andrew George

Thursday 6th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

As the Clerk Assistant has just pointed out to me, Members’ approach to Question 2 might best be described as “broadband”.

[Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)]

On the same theme, it is important to recognise that to have a resilient wi-fi service on our rail service, we need to have a resilient rail service. In view of the Secretary of State’s earlier reply, does he not accept that if we are to invest properly in a resilient service down to Penzance, in my constituency, we need to ensure that there is funding comparable to the money being spent on HS2 and other services?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I will be asking for further work to be done on the question of resilience in the south-west, as I indicated to the hon. Gentleman in the meeting last night. Over the next five years, between 2014 and 2019, Network Rail will be spending £38 billion on the existing railway network. There is, therefore, no shortage of understanding from the Government of the importance of rail services across the whole country. As far as services in Devon and Cornwall are concerned, I also take those responsibilities incredibly seriously.

West Coast Main Line

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Andrew George

Monday 29th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman; I think there were about six questions there. However, I will give him only one answer, which is that the Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewes (Norman Baker), spoke directly to the managing director of that rail line. We are concerned about the deterioration of services, and I hope that measures will be put in place quickly to put them back to an acceptable level.

[Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)]

Notwithstanding my right hon. Friend’s reply to the hon. Member for Tamworth (Christopher Pincher) about the Brown inquiry, is he prepared to go a little further in outlining the consequences for other franchises and their timetabling, particularly the First Great Western franchise, which many hon. Members are very concerned about?

[Mr McLoughlin]

Yes; the hon. Gentleman’s points are well taken. However, I do not want to prejudge the Brown inquiry, nor the final Laidlaw inquiry. It is better that I wait for those reports to see whether they have any read-across. I assure him that, as I have said throughout the statement, we are very keen to see good, reliable railway services across the country.