Monday 15th October 2012

(11 years, 7 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord McLoughlin Portrait Mr McLoughlin
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I am not wedded to a broken system; I just look at the reassurances that previous Ministers gave on improvements to the railways since the present franchise system came into operation.

Ann Coffey Portrait Ann Coffey (Stockport) (Lab)
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I am very concerned that there will now be a long hiatus in investment in the west coast main line. Will the Secretary of State talk to Virgin about making some money available for long overdue improvements to Stockport station, which were offered by FirstGroup? Alternatively, perhaps he could find some cash from his departmental budget? It seems unlikely that those improvements will happen any time soon.

Lord McLoughlin Portrait Mr McLoughlin
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I understand that the hon. Lady wants improvements made to her station and I will consider carefully what she has said, but I am not sure that there is any spare money in the Department.