West Coast Main Line
Debate between Anas Sarwar and Iain Stewart(12 years, 2 months ago)
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Anas Sarwar (Glasgow Central) (Lab)
I am not sure that is something I want said with some of my Labour colleagues in the room!
There has been a debate on the two companies, but does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is not about which company operates the line but about getting the right deal for the taxpayer and the passenger? People need reassurance that we will get the same quality and frequency of service and the same low fares and that taxpayers will not eventually have to foot the bill.
Anas Sarwar
Is not the hon. Gentleman concerned that with that predicted doubling of user numbers on the service in the next 15 years, and given that figure for capacity of 35%, fares will go up, and will be much higher in peak times, to attract people to travel off-peak? That could lead to a massive increase in fares for people using the service at the most important times.
Iain Stewart
Without wanting to put words in his mouth, I think, from our questioning in Committee of Tim O’Toole of FirstGroup, that he would reflect whatever changes the Government make to the definition of the peak period. The ambition is indeed to try to get a more equitable spread of rail demand across the day so that trains are not packed at certain times while others run comparatively empty. That is a sensible ambition. However, the long-term answer to the hon. Gentleman’s question is a step change in rail capacity, which will come with High Speed 2. In the mean time, the question is how to make best use of the capacity that we have.