Rolling Stock (North of England)

Yasmin Qureshi Excerpts

Wednesday 12th March 2014 Westminster Hall

[Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East) (Lab)]

I want to talk about the train service between Bolton and Manchester. The trains are incredibly overcrowded, especially during peak times. People often have to give up on one or two trains before they can get on one, and when they do they are completely squashed, as I know, because I travel on those trains myself.

The trains are small and need to be refurbished. We need more trains because those running between Bolton and Manchester are incredibly dangerous and overcrowded. A lot of people miss their trains as a result, and I have had letters from constituents who have lost their jobs because they have not been able to get to work on time and their employer has had no sympathy for the fact that they have been spending an hour or so travelling on a local train service.

It is regrettable that—

[Mr Andrew Turner (in the Chair)]

Order. I call Lilian Greenwood.

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[Yasmin Qureshi]

rose—

[Lilian Greenwood]

I am sorry, but I am not going to give way, as we have limited time.

We heard powerful examples of the difficulties commuters face from hon. Members from across the House, including the hon. Members for Cleethorpes (Martin Vickers) and for Southport (John Pugh), my hon. Friends the Members for Kingston upon Hull North (Diana Johnson), for Hartlepool (Mr Wright) and for Gateshead (Ian Mearns) and, briefly but eloquently, my hon. Friends the Members for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald), for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds) and for Bolton South East (Yasmin Qureshi). As First TransPennine Express has said, even a relatively small reduction in the size of its fleet could have a profound impact on services. The company said:

“Our timetable from May 2014 through to the end of our current franchise term requires all of our existing fleets to be able to deliver the significant capacity increase that we have committed to provide. Similarly, the same total number of vehicles would be required to sustain the same level of service into the new ten-month franchise extension period from April 2015.”

If replacement rolling stock is transferred from Northern Rail, the same problem will be repeated. Passengers, transport authorities and operators now face years of uncertainty over rolling stock availability before electrification is completed. Drivers cannot be trained and new services cannot be planned. If still more trains are lost, those problems will only become more unmanageable.

I understand that Chiltern’s agreement to operate the Class 170s contains a sub-lease that would allow the trains to remain in use on the trans Pennine routes until replacement rolling stock can be found. I also understand that the Department for Transport, First TransPennine Express and Chiltern Railways are parties to that lease. Will the Minister tell us whether the sub-lease can go ahead only with the full agreement of the Department and Chiltern Railways? It is important that we have an answer to that question and to the other questions that hon. Members have raised today.

When the Minister responds I hope that he is not tempted to downplay the issue by saying that this situation is simply part of the normal process of cascading rolling stock. If that is so, why is the industry press reporting that the loss of the Class 170s is

“likely to produce a serious reduction in capacity”

on the TransPennine routes? As my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs Ellman), who chairs the Transport Committee, has said,

“this issue is causing considerable uncertainty over the future viability of TPE’s timetable.”

The Minister might say that this is simply a matter for the market to decide, and, of course, the split between infrastructure, train operators and rolling stock companies was established in the botched privatisation by the previous Conservative Government. However, if it is simply something for the industry to decide, why has the Department been involved in discussions between Chiltern Railways and the rolling stock leasing company at every stage in the process? He might try to insist that the situation is simply business as usual, but after today’s debate, that simply would not be credible. The problem is the direct consequence of the panicked direct awards programme introduced following the collapse of the west coast competition. In turn, that was caused by Ministers imposing their new franchise model on one of the most complex routes in Europe. At every stage, Ministers are directly accountable, and they will be accountable for any reduction of services that results from that chain of events.

The truth is that, for all the talk of cutting red tape, the coalition will leave a record of five years of disastrous decisions in Whitehall, a top-heavy failure to manage key projects, and a huge expansion in the Department’s involvement in the rail network. I accept that the Minister may be an unlikely occupant of a Marxist universe, but perhaps we should not be surprised by the coalition’s switch to old-fashioned command and control. After all, last year, the Business Secretary said that a “rail revolution” was taking place. With services threatened and rolling stock taken away, we now know what the rallying cry of that strange revolution—it unites MPs across party boundaries—will be: “Passengers of the north, unite! You have nothing to lose but your trains.”

Season ticket prices have risen by an average of 20% since the election. Passengers deserve better than this. The Government must face up to the scale of the problem, set out a clear plan for meeting the north’s rolling stock requirements and get the improvements in the region’s rail services back on track.

Disabled Access (Aviation Industry)

Yasmin Qureshi Excerpts

Wednesday 7th November 2012 Westminster Hall

[Graham Evans]

I totally agree with the hon. Gentleman. He makes a very good point well. It does not matter whether it is a budget or low-cost airline or any other airline; these are fundamental customer service roles and training should be there, as a given. Let us consider the trains, for example. I use the west coast main line regularly, and have observed passengers in wheelchairs. Although trains are, by design, tight, I have noticed on the Pendolino how those passengers successfully manoeuvre themselves around the seats, luggage and toilets. The doors open, and the staff know exactly what to do. They know where the ramps are to get passengers down from the train to the platform. Platforms vary, and the sizes are different, but the staff do not make an issue of it. They have the right equipment, the right attitude, and clearly the right training, and it is a painless task to watch. A couple of weeks ago I spoke to a young gentleman in a wheelchair and he said, “I travel regularly and it is never an issue getting on or off the train.” The message is that it can be done. With good training and the right leadership and management it is an everyday occurrence, and there is absolutely no reason why that should not be the case for the air industry as well as the trains.

It should not cost more for a PRM to book flights, and I wholeheartedly recommend that there should be online booking facilities for wheelchair carriage, and a freephone number available for providing further information to the airline. It is not always possible to give advance notice, but where possible PRMs should be able just to pick up a phone to make the necessary call and not have to repeat themselves time and again.

Let us now consider what happens on arrival at the airport. Almost half of respondents said there are frequent issues when checking in, with inconsistent advice about the policies for mobility and about health equipment. Inconsistent advice and lack of training contravene the legislation, and I would be pleased if the CAA took a robust approach to communication breakdown.

[Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate. I am one of those people who travel with their mother, and she has to have a wheelchair to travel. One of the frustrations we find—there must be other people in a similar situation—is that after we arrive and park in the car park, getting her to the actual airport and, from there, trying to get to a wheelchair is an enormous problem. Often there are no facilities at that point. Perhaps one thing airports might consider is that, when people book their ticket in advance, such arrangements could be put in place, too, so there is something there to enable people to move and get into the airport.

[Graham Evans]

The hon. Lady is entirely right. Arranging a section of a multi-storey car park—I am thinking of a particular airport that I do not want to mention—is not beyond the capability and wit of man. Sometimes people have to park miles away from the airport, but a facility so that carers or disabled people may drive virtually to the departure lounge would have no cost implications and would be quick and straightforward. The hon. Lady has raised an important point.

On check-in, wheelchairs are normally taken by staff to be loaded. We should consider wheelchairs not only as modes of transport but as vital medical equipment. As such, I am deeply concerned by the lack of due care and training; 60% of wheelchairs are damaged in flight. Even more concerning is the £1,000 compensation limit for damage to chairs, which can cost upwards of £6,000. Surely, if the argument for the limit is that it protects the cost viability of airlines carrying such equipment, we should reposition the argument. If the training were better, fewer wheelchairs would be damaged and fewer costs paid. That is really simple, is it not? As a result, as with anything else that is transported, when a wheelchair is damaged, full compensation could be given, which would be better value for airlines and a better deal for passengers—better all round.

I am pleased there has been progress and airports are making their facilities more accessible, and it is worth noting that the 11 million disabled people in the United Kingdom, 8% of whom use wheelchairs, have a combined spending power of £80 billion a year.

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[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Weaver Vale (Graham Evans) on bringing this subject to Westminster Hall. It is of great importance to some of my constituents and to many who are here. I suspect that a great many others would like to be here, but unfortunately cannot be.

As a Northern Ireland MP, over the past two years I have had more opportunity to fly than I ever had in the past. In the first two months of being an MP, I travelled more by aeroplane than I probably did in all the years of my life before that. Air travel has become a regular part of life for those travelling from Northern Ireland to here. Doing that has given me the chance to observe what happens in airports and how disabled people are treated. In addition, numerous constituents have pointed out to me that the so-called budget airlines have the worst attitude to those who need a little extra help—my hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell) touched on that, and many other hon. Members will probably be of the same opinion. As a result, I am not surprised by many of the stories that I have heard so far and will probably hear before the afternoon is out.

Although I am not surprised, I am certainly disgusted by some of the attitudes adopted by some airlines and their staff. The hon. Gentleman referred to the attitude to customers, which could be improved greatly. It is not hard to be kind and courteous or to help when someone needs help. Some of the budget airlines have achieved a reputation for treating people like cattle—I use the term advisedly—and not taking their circumstances and situations into account. That should be addressed at the highest level, and I hope that in his response the Minister will give us some positive vibes on how the Government intend to do that, so that airlines may no longer discriminate against those who need a little extra help or time to get aboard. The essence of air travel is speed. People rush to get to the airport, they rush to get to the plane and then, when they have just about caught their breath, it is time to get off and repeat the exercise in the other direction, but disabled people, wheelchair users or those with mobility issues have greater problems.

I stress that I am not tarring all airlines with the same brush, to use a phrase that we use at home. Alongside the examples of those that do not treat disabled people correctly are examples of those that do. I will give one example that highlights the issue and how we can have faith in some people’s goodness. One of my constituents was on a British Airways flight—I identify it because the carrier provided good care—from South Africa back to England. She had suffered a miscarriage on the morning of the flight and there was concern about whether she should fly because of the high altitude and so on, but she was desperate to get home. After getting medical assistance and advice, she was put into a wheelchair at the airport—her medical condition had been confirmed as stable to fly. The British Airways pilot came down to see her; she was upgraded on board the flight, along with her husband; and throughout the 11-hour flight, airline staff brought her hot water bottles and fluid.

Some airlines excel, which is good. That is the standard that all of them should be trying to adhere to. It would be good if they did. Some go above and beyond what should reasonably be expected, which should be commended, but when others refuse to give even a basic level of help and respect, we must step in. As parliamentarians, we have an opportunity to speak on behalf of the people who contact us.

A survey of young disabled air passengers showed that 90% of wheelchair users are unable to use airline toilets and must therefore avoid drinking before or during flights. Some 60% of disabled passengers say that their wheelchairs have been damaged when travelling with an airline, as the hon. Member for Weaver Vale mentioned, and 60% said that they felt unsafe when transferring from a wheelchair to an airline seat. Those are small things, but they are important to a disabled person. Airlines and their staff must show compassion for such people and ensure that their flight experience is every bit as good as mine and that of everyone here who travels by air regularly. Another 50% stated that they had had disability-related problems booking airline tickets—even booking a ticket is a problem for 50% of disabled people. Lots of elements of the process must be improved to ensure that disabled people can travel much more easily and with less hassle.

The statistics that we were sent in our parliamentary briefings—I know that other Members received them as well—scream for us to address them, and I hope that that will be achieved through this debate. We hear too many tales of disabled people being seated halfway down a plane and then paraded through the flight with other passengers looking on, so the person feels like they are part of a sideshow. It is absolutely disgraceful that small and easy improvements are overlooked by some airlines and their staff. It seems prudent to me to allocate disabled people the seats closest to the exits, to enable a less conspicuous transfer whenever they get on or off the plane.

[Yasmin Qureshi]

In the light of what the hon. Gentleman is saying about the variation in services provided to different people by different airlines, does he agree that it would be helpful if the Secretary of State required the Civil Aviation Authority to produce an annual report on the experience of disabled passengers using air transport services, including whether the airlines have complied with relevant legislation?

[Jim Shannon]

I thank the hon. Lady for that suggestion. It would be a good marker if every year the airlines had to reflect on whether they had met their target and helped people, and on the number of people who had complained. It would certainly sharpen them up.

No one should fear taking some water on a flight, as we are all recommended to do in order to prevent blood clots and other problems, just because they know they will have to go through an ordeal to use the toilets. Again, it is a small thing, but it is important: it is one of the basics of life. I read of one young man—it must have been a terribly difficult situation for him—who had to relieve himself into a bottle at his seat when he could not access the toilets because staff were not available to help. How embarrassing it must have been for that young man. I suspect that that is replicated on many airlines across the United Kingdom and further afield. It should clearly be avoided. Something has to change in how disabled people are viewed by some airlines. As the change is not forthcoming, we are having this debate to highlight the issues and hopefully to get a helpful response from the Minister. I believe that we must step in.

I want to highlight another issue that is important to my constituents, who have come to me in some numbers. During 30 years of conflict in Northern Ireland, as well in fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, numerous constituents of mine have been injured and now have metal in their bodies to repair those injuries. As a result, they have to go through security checks at airports that are a most humiliating exercise for someone with six inches of metal in his leg or back as a result of fighting for the Army, or serving in the police force in Northern Ireland or elsewhere. They go through a strip search every time they go to an airport. I ask the Minister to consider that issue. I asked the airport and the authorities whether, if such people presented a doctor’s letter, it would be sufficient, but they were unwilling to accede. As a result, every time those people travel, whether from Northern Ireland to Heathrow or from here to Florida, Paris or elsewhere in Europe, they go through a statutory strip search because they have metal in their bodies, which shows up clearly on the screen.

[Yasmin Qureshi]

On the issue of scanners going off if somebody walks through, does the hon. Gentleman agree that one of the best ways of dealing with people with medical conditions who must go through security checks is to provide somewhere private where the person can be taken and spoken to, so that they can explain what their condition is in private, rather than stand with everyone else in the queue while they are questioned about their medical issues?

Northern Rail Hub

Yasmin Qureshi Excerpts

Wednesday 18th January 2012 Westminster Hall

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hood. As one of the vice-chairmen of the all-party group on rail in the north, I am delighted to have secured this debate on an issue that is well and truly at the top of our agenda. It is great to see present so many colleagues from the all-party group and from the north of the country who are passionate about rail investment in their constituencies and across the north.

My Colne Valley constituency has two rail lines running through it. The Leeds to Manchester trans-Pennine route has stations in Lockwood, Slaithwaite and Marsden, while the Huddersfield, Penistone and Sheffield line has stations in Honley, where I live, and Brockholes. Frequent, reliable, clean and affordable rail services are needed in my constituency and across the north as a clear alternative to the clogged motorways of the M1 and M62.

What exactly is the northern hub? The aim of the project is to allow the towns and cities of the north to work better together and drive growth by increasing capacity and reducing journey times on the rail network in the north. There is a bottleneck on the rail network in the north—largely in Manchester—and a lack of investment in transport infrastructure will act as a restraint to economic growth across the north. The northern hub is a £560 million project of targeted infrastructure investment to help the north continue to thrive that includes a series of proposed rail network improvements across the north that will stimulate economic growth.

[Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East) (Lab)]

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is important that all parts of the northern hub project are properly funded? If only one aspect is funded, that will cause difficulties in the rest of the area.

[Jason McCartney]

The hon. Lady makes an excellent point. When I sum up, I will re-emphasise that we will only get the total benefit from all the economic benefits if the whole hub project is fully funded. I hope that that will be one of the main conclusions from this 90-minute debate.

The improvements and economic benefits of the project will go as far as Newcastle in the north, Sheffield in the south, Hull in the east, and Chester and Liverpool in the west. It really will benefit the whole of the north. The northern hub will be a catalyst to drive economic growth in the north. Network Rail has calculated that between 20,000 and 30,000 new jobs will be created, that there will be an extra 700 trains a day and that it could be worth up to £4 billion to the northern economy. Network Rail submitted the northern hub proposals to the Government last September, as part of the initial industry plan, and we expect a final decision this summer.

Where are we up to with the project? To give some history, the northern hub report was launched by Network Rail in early 2010. It evolved from a Northern Way report about what was needed to drive economic growth in the north. It defined a set of outputs and the hub was designed to meet them.

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[Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Colne Valley (Jason McCartney) on securing the debate. It is apt that I should follow his contribution because my constituency follows on from his, and the line he referred to goes on into my constituency. The only time I will willingly share a platform with the hon. Gentleman is the day when we get improved capacity on the Penistone line. I look forward to that day very much indeed.

For the north of England, the northern hub project is as important as the Crossrail project is to London. In many ways, it is helpful to see the project in those terms. Between the cities of Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool, 14 million people live and work and travel. Much of the rail traffic has to go through an antiquated interchange of rail routes through Manchester and the surrounding area, and very few people—if any—in this room can have any doubt whatsoever that the northern hub project is absolutely crucial to the future of the economy in the north of England.

There is no doubt that, in the past 10 years, there has been a transformation in rail across the north of England, with more and more passengers choosing to travel by train. That modal shift, if we can describe it as such, has supported significant economic growth in the north, as people are able feasibly to commute further to work or to execute their business. However, that growth is now threatened, not only because of the reckless risks being taken with our economy by the coalition, but because of the need to modernise our infrastructure in the north of England so that we do not constrict growth and discourage investment.

Some people might ask, “Why is Manchester’s railway network so crucial to the north or the country as a whole?” I would refer back to the comments made by the hon. Member for Colne Valley to make that case. In the early days, the project was sponsored by the Northern Way—an organisation, incidentally, formed by the three regional development agencies abolished by the Government—and was called the Manchester hub, not the northern hub. Politically, the decision was taken at an early stage to rename the developing project the northern hub, because it was quickly recognised that the benefits realised were not just for Manchester but for the whole of the north of England. It was felt that if we were ever to get the project off the ground and funded by the Treasury, it had to be seen as something that benefited the whole of the north. That is why I make reference to Crossrail. As I said earlier, in a sense, the northern hub project unknots the problems with cross-country trains in a way that will impact on a population of 14 million people.

[Yasmin Qureshi]

As somebody who formerly lived in the south, I am very happy about the funding for Crossrail. Is it right, though, that the benefit-cost ratio of Crossrail is 1:7, as opposed to 4:1 for the northern hub? Clearly, there is much more benefit to the northern hub than to Crossrail.

[Angela Smith]

I agree entirely with that point. The northern hub would do a great deal to help tackle the economic disparities between the south-east of England and the north.

What is the northern hub project that we have heard so much about? The hon. Member for Colne Valley illustrated it well: it is a series of works, new track and increased platform capacity in Manchester that will remove track conflicts and relieve traffic congestion. The works will allow up to 700 more trains a day, with space for 44 million more passenger journeys a year. Completion of the works will allow two new fast trains an hour to run between Manchester Victoria and Liverpool, with, as the hon. Gentleman said, six fast trains an hour between Leeds and Manchester, as opposed to four now.

Just as important for someone who represents a south Yorkshire constituency, journey times between Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester—what I have referred to in the past as the “golden triangle” of the north— will be reduced significantly. Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester are equidistant, economically important and interdependent, and we have to maximise the potential of those three great cities. I have argued previously that the present situation whereby it takes up to an hour and often longer to travel the 30 miles between Sheffield and Manchester is unacceptable. That represents a journey time not a great deal different from that experienced by our Victorian forebears—that is how little the north of England has moved forward in rail journey time and capacity in the past century. A completed northern hub would cut the journey time between Sheffield and Manchester and, importantly, would allow two more trains to run throughout the day. That will help to cut the daily overcrowding, which has already been mentioned, on cross-country routes.

The estimated cost of those improvements, as the hon. Member for Colne Valley said, is £260 million—a large sum, but not great when placed alongside the £16 billion budget for Crossrail. It is estimated that for every £1 invested, as my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton South East (Yasmin Qureshi) said a moment ago, there would be a return of £4 in economic benefits. Crucially, we need the whole of the package to deliver that economic benefit. I see the current congestion and problems in the network as a knot. To deal with the problems created by a knot, one does not half untie it. The whole knot has to be loosened and dealt with to get the benefit, and that is the important point. We have to unknot the network and deal with all the problems created by congestion around Manchester. There is no point in untying part of the knot; we have to deal with the whole problem to get the benefit.

The Chancellor’s recent autumn statement announced the Government’s intention to fast-track some elements of the northern hub project. That commitment is welcome but it goes nowhere near far enough. Work on the Ordsall chord will enable trains from Manchester airport, and Liverpool to Leeds, to use the modernised Manchester Victoria station, but that only partially answers the question of congestion in and around Manchester. The announcement to electrify the north Pennine route and the electrification of other routes around the north-west is welcome, but while that will allow lighter, more efficient trains to use those routes, it will not relieve all congestion and will not help passengers from Sheffield, and those further east on the Hope Valley line, to enjoy faster, more frequent trains. That has a massive impact on the east coast and the Humber bank. The Hope Valley line is critical to all train journeys from Cleethorpes and Grimsby through to Manchester airport, as well as Sheffield.

If the north of England is to close the economic gap with London and the south-east, it is my firm belief that this project has to be given the green light in its entirety for the next control period. The full range of benefits envisaged by the project, benefits that we know are desperately needed to help the north to grow, will not be realised unless we deliver every element of the project.

We have called for this debate today because we have been receiving worrying signals from the Minister. I pay tribute to her, which may seem unusual for an Opposition politician, for the way she has handled the High Speed 2 debate. She has shown a firm grasp of the detail and has been staunch in her commitment to the project, and I would like to see the same for the northern hub. The point made earlier, that the northern hub is critical to complementing HS2, is the important point.

On capacity in the north of England, if it is cheaper to tunnel than to dig steep embankments in the Chilterns, surely we can consider reopening the Woodhead line. It has been said to me that the tunnelling that would be required on the Woodhead line if we were to reopen it is far too expensive for the Department for Transport to consider. Let us therefore have that one back on the table while we are at it.

For many years, the north has lagged behind the south-east in rail investment. Now is the time to change that. It is time to acknowledge that transport spending for the north has lagged significantly behind that made available for London and the south-east, and that action needs to be taken to correct this unfairness in funding allocations by the Department for Transport. This is the best opportunity we have had for years to correct that situation by giving the go-ahead to this project in its entirety.

I pointed out at the start of my contribution that a completed northern hub helps not only Manchester but the rest of the north of England. I call on the Government to prioritise this work. It makes sense for the north and it makes sense for rebalancing the economy, so it makes sense for the UK as a whole.

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[Julie Hilling]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention, which is interesting. It has been interesting during the High Speed 2 debate that people have frowned about putting so much money into the north, and people in the south-west have rightly asked why they are not receiving expenditure. There never seems to be an outcry about expenditure in London. I spend part of my life in London and before becoming an MP, I wanted to come to our capital city. Investment is needed in London, but it is also needed in the regions.

[Yasmin Qureshi]

I am sure that hon. Members here have no problem with investment in rail projects throughout the country. HS2 has come in at £500 million more expensive than originally projected. The northern hub itself would cost that sort of money. Does my hon. Friend agree that it should not be too difficult to find funding for the northern hub?

[Julie Hilling]

I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. Of course, it is not easy to find money, and I agree that it is good that the Government have protected some of the investment in rail. We all welcome that, but the issue is not an either/or. It is not all right to say that we can have part of the hub. If the whole north—the north-west, Yorkshire and Humberside, and the north-east—is to benefit, the whole hub must be developed. I am worried that the approach will be piecemeal.

As hon. Members have said, we need connectivity between our great cities, and the ability to travel across the country. We must consider the cost of having so much road traffic because rail travel is not adequate. As some of us have been saying for some time, it is quicker to drive from Manchester to Leeds than to take the train. It is quicker to drive from Milton Keynes to Leeds than to take the train. That is ludicrous, and we need the project to alter that. Like every hon. Member in the Chamber, I plead with the Minister to fund the northern hub in full, so that we will have rail connectivity between our great cities and receive the investment the north so badly needs.