Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Barry Sheerman(8 years, 4 months ago)
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Mr McLoughlin
I well know the desire of all my colleagues in East Anglia to hear about the new franchise. I hope not to have to keep them waiting too long.
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
The other day, an employee of Virgin Trains East Coast described the refurb of some of the old trains as “like giving granny a new dress”. Is the Secretary of State not aware of the state of the rolling stock on the east coast? When is it going to get better, and how can we justify that sort of rolling stock when we are wasting so much money on HS2?
Mr McLoughlin
What the hon. Gentleman should be welcoming, as he always fails to do, is the vast investment that we are seeing on that railway line. He is now complaining about the upgrading of stock in the interim before the new IEP trains come in. I would have thought he would welcome that new service and also welcome the new service into London that will eventually serve Huddersfield.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Barry Sheerman(8 years, 7 months ago)
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Mr McLoughlin
When that decision is made, I will be accountable to the House for why certain decisions were taken. In a letter from my hon. Friend that I did reply to, I pointed out that it would not be appropriate for me to provide a running commentary until the Government have come to a final decision. When we do that, we will be fully accountable for the decisions and recommendations that we make.
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
Is the Minister at least a little ashamed of the fact that a major inquiry under Howard Davies has made its recommendations, but nothing has happened? At the same time, we are putting all our national treasure into High Speed 2, but by the time that arrives in 2033 we will find that the driverless car has made it totally redundant.
Mr McLoughlin
I will take no lectures from a man who supported a Government who saw our position on the infrastructure league tables move from 7th, when Labour entered government in 1997, to 33rd by the time it left government in 2010. [Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman says that it was all his fault—those were his words and not mine.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Barry Sheerman(8 years, 10 months ago)
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Mr McLoughlin
I welcome the hon. Gentleman to his post. As I said last week in a transport debate, I hope he lasts longer than his predecessor—[Interruption.] I think there was somebody in between. The contract to which he refers did have a break clause for First, but it was negotiated by the Labour Government. Therefore, they caused that break and it was part of their contract.
I am pleased to be able to remind the hon. Gentleman of the words of the right hon. Member for Tooting (Sadiq Khan), who I believe has an important role in the Labour party—I hope it is a very unsuccessful one in a few weeks’ time. He said that:
“one reason we are able to invest record sums in our railway service is the revenues that the franchises bring in and the premiums that they pay”.—[Official Report, 1 July 2009; Vol. 495, c. 430.]
He said that when he was in a position of responsibility: that of Transport Minister.
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
9. What recent discussions he has had with Network Rail on the proposed electrification of the trans-Pennine rail line.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Barry Sheerman(8 years, 11 months ago)
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Mr McLoughlin
I am more than happy to meet my hon. Friend. As I said, we are investing a huge amount in infrastructure. Having been in Stafford only a few a weeks ago, I know about the problems he refers to.
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
Will the rail Minister repeat the figures she gave to the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety annual conference this week about the appalling number of suicides on our rail system and the disruption and dreadful impact that has on the victims and on the travelling public?