Rising Cost of Transport

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 9th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

The motion before us is very disappointing. It fails to recognise why there are costs in our transport system or what the Government are already doing about them.

I want to focus on the rail network, because it is the transport area undergoing the most significant change, as we are in the biggest period of rail investment since the Victorian era. We all know that there are inefficiencies in our rail system. The McNulty review, which was commissioned by the previous Government, reported inefficiencies of between £2.5 billion and £3.5 billion in the system, and found that our railways were up to 40% less efficient than the best of our European counterparts. Those are inconvenient facts that the motion ignores. It also ignores the success of the industry. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State mentioned, there are as many passengers on our rail network now as there were in the 1920s, yet the network is significantly smaller than it was then. That is one of the causes of overcrowding. It also shows, however, that passengers are choosing to use rail.

I am going to talk about an area in which the Government have introduced a radical change of policy that will cut costs for passengers and improve the service they receive. That policy is rail electrification. Let me remind the House of how the UK performs in this area. We have electrified 34% of our network. In 2010, the UK was 20th out of 29 European countries in the league table of electrification. We are ahead of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Latvia, Estonia, Greece and Lithuania. Wales and Albania were the only two countries without a single mile of electrified railway.

Why does this matter? It matters because electrified railways are cheaper to run. Electric trains are cheaper to buy. They weigh less, and so put less wear and tear on the network, which in turn costs less to maintain. They require less engine space, and so can accommodate more passengers, which contributes to the capacity issue. They can accelerate and decelerate more quickly than diesel trains. This means that passengers can enjoy faster journey times or that there can be more stops for the same journey time, or that there can be a combination of the two. They are also, of course, more environmentally friendly. Rail electrification is part of the long-term solution in taking cost out of running our railways.

I mentioned earlier that this area has seen a radical change of policy direction. Labour managed just 10 miles of rail electrification in 13 years. That is not even a snail’s pace. In contrast, this Government have announced 850 miles, and we are only halfway through this Parliament. That represents a huge change of scale and ambition, tackling cost and capacity for the longer term.

[Mrs Gillan]

Does my hon. Friend agree that this Government have also led the way by announcing the electrification of the railway line from London all the way down to Swansea and, more importantly, the electrification of the valleys lines in south Wales, which will mean a great deal to a large number of people? I am pleased to say that those measures are supported by Members on both sides of the House, and I look forward to the projects being completed in due course.

[Andrew Jones]

I completely agree with my right hon. Friend. This is not just an abstract policy; we are seeing real change on the ground, and there is good news right across the country. As she says, the Great Western main line is being electrified between London and Swansea, along with the valleys lines and the vale of Glamorgan line, which will bring electrification to Wales for the first time. The midland main line is being electrified between London and Sheffield, and that will obviously include Loughborough. A matter of great importance to my constituents in Harrogate and Knaresborough will be the electrification of the TransPennine Express services between Leeds and Manchester. That is just part of the massive rail investment that we are seeing in the north. There are many other projects, and I would like to highlight the complete funding of the northern hub, which will vastly increase capacity between our great northern cities.

Those projects involve major long-term funding decisions. Sometimes, we have been reluctant to take such decisions, but not under this Government. The ministerial team deserves praise for that. However, I cannot resist taking this opportunity to highlight a marvellous electrification opportunity. This is a bit of a local advert, and I thank the Ministers for listening. I am talking about the Leeds-Harrogate-York line. The line has up to 3 million passengers a year, its usage is growing rapidly and it serves an area of high economic activity. The area also has a significant visitor economy. The Harrogate international conference centre attracts more than 300,000 visitors a year, and 500,000 visitors attend the Great Yorkshire show each year. The area is so inadequately served by its rail facilities, however, that less than 20% of its visitors arrive by rail.

Electrification of the line is part of the solution. There is enormous support for the electrification of our line—from all the councils along the route, from the West Yorkshire passenger transport executive and, of course, from all the local chambers of trade and commerce. May I therefore ask the Minister, perhaps a little cheekily, to look at what can be done for the Leeds-Harrogate-York line and to meet me and colleagues to discuss it?

The questions we should be asking today about transport costs are not those in the motion before us. We should be looking at the underlying reasons why we have cost in the system. I think the Opposition know that, which is why they commissioned the McNulty report in the first place. Overall, I completely agree with the desire to cut the cost of travel in the UK, but I will not support the motion because it fails to take so many important issues into account.

I have been talking about rail solutions, but the Government have been taking action in other areas, as well. We should look at the different approach to fuel duty. The last Government increased fuel duty 12 times, and left office with six further rises planned. This Government have stopped them, and as a result motorists are seeing fuel duty 13p a litre lower.

I welcome the Opposition’s interest in delivering value for taxpayers and passengers, but it is a late conversion. As identified in the McNulty report, they left our rail network inefficient. Under the last Government, rail subsidy went up by 337% at a time when passengers saw real-terms fare rises. Bus subsidies went up by 127%, despite real-terms fare increases again. It is only by tackling the underlying drivers of cost that better value will be delivered for taxpayers. This motion does not even consider that, which is why I will not support it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Thursday 29th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Burns]

I assure the hon. Gentleman that one of this Government’s priorities is to improve rail links throughout England, Wales and Scotland through electrification. On his specific question about improving services in Scotland, that is a matter for Arriva and the Scottish Government—[Interruption.] Sorry, not Arriva. It is a matter for the provider of train services in Scotland and the Scottish Government. We will work with them, as we have done in the past and will continue to do, to ensure that the improvements that Scotland needs are made.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

The Government committed themselves to the inter-city express programme train contract in July. Will the Minister explain how that will improve services between Scotland and England, particularly journey times?

Rail Fares

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 11th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Maria Eagle]

I accept that it was introduced by the Labour Government, but it was then stopped by the Labour Government and reintroduced by the current Government.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

It was stopped for one year.

[Maria Eagle]

No, permanently.

McNulty Report and West Coast Rail

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Thursday 19th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s question, which allows me to make an important point. Integration in the railway at the level of timetabling, planning and route network operation is important. The hon. Gentleman will not have had a chance to read the report yet, but Sir Roy makes that point clearly. Those things have to be done on an industry-wide basis; they cannot be fragmented when greater autonomy is devolved to network rail route managers or when train operators are given greater flexibility.

The hon. Gentleman also talks about reopening disused lines. I am afraid to tell him that work on the cost base has a little way to go before that becomes a practical reality. However, as I said earlier, I intend to look carefully at the case for devolving responsibility for commissioning services and the budgets with which to do that for regional and local railways later this year. I would expect decisions to reinstate any currently disused lines to be taken at that level.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

I congratulate the Secretary of State on this encouraging report. What are the prospects for improved rolling stock on the Leeds-to-York line via Harrogate and Knaresborough? We have rapidly growing numbers of passengers on the route, but the rolling stock is some of the very worst that I have seen in the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Thursday 27th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Villiers]

This is a devolved matter. The settlement was established by the Labour Government, who made it clear that congestion charging matters were rightly for the Mayor of London to decide and not for Ministers in Whitehall.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

6. What plans he has for the reform of rail franchising; and if he will make a statement.

[Eric Ollerenshaw (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Con)]

11. What plans he has for reform of rail franchising; and if he will make a statement.

The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Mrs Theresa Villiers): On 19 January, the Government set out a new approach to franchising, taking account of the consultation that took place last summer. We expect the reforms to deliver a railway that is more responsive to passenger needs and provides better value for taxpayer investment.

[Andrew Jones]

I thank the Minister for that answer. Last week, the east coast main line announced a new direct service from London to Harrogate—the first for 20 years—after some excellent local work promoting the economic case for that service. As the new franchise requirements for the east coast main line are developed, will that economic case see Harrogate-London links built into those requirements?

[Mrs Villiers]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. I have been impressed with the work done by him, the Harrogate chamber of commerce and Harrogate business interests to make the case for improved rail services between Harrogate and London. I would encourage them to continue that input when the consultation takes place on re-letting the east coast franchise. We will, of course, take those representations into account in our decisions on Harrogate services.

Concessionary Travel

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 24th November 2010 Westminster Hall

[Karen Lumley]

I agree with my hon. Friend and I look forward to hearing the Minister’s reply to the debate in a few moments’ time.

The Government have promised to examine smarter ways of administering the bus service operators grant subsidies, as well as a system that more clearly—

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate and I thank her for giving way.

In the area that I represent—Harrogate and Knaresborough—the actual cost to Harrogate district council of concessionary fares in 2009-10 was £2.9 million and yet the total special and formula grant received was only £1.5 million, leaving the balance of £1.4 million to be met by local taxpayers.

As the grant is reallocated, with responsibility for the service transferring to the county council, it is quite important that we allocate the grant and not the cost that county councils and district councils have been facing, so that the local taxpayers of Harrogate district council are not hit twice.

[Karen Lumley]

I totally agree with my hon. Friend and let us hope that we can move on to the type of system that he has just suggested.

We need to look at a system that allows local communities and local authorities to determine how the funding that is allocated to their area should be spent, but I do not think that we have seen any evidence of such a system yet. I ask the Minister today to reconsider the proposed changes in the light of the cumulative effects that they will have, not only on district councils and local authorities but on the provision of vital services for our elderly and disabled people. I also ask him to address these issues as a matter of urgency.