Railways: East Anglia Network

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington Excerpts

Thursday 10th October 2013 Grand Committee

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Con)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for securing this debate and for giving us the opportunity to explore some important issues. My interest in this debate is that of a passenger—a regular passenger but thankfully not a commuter—on the London Liverpool Street to Norwich line. My own station is Hatfield Peverel between Chelmsford and Witham. As my husband is the Member of Parliament for Harwich and North Essex, I am even more acutely aware of what a big issue this is for all MPs and commuters on this line. The annual season ticket from Hatfield Peverel is now £4,696, which out of taxed income is a lot of money for an unreliable and very overcrowded service.

The eastern regional economy is driven by the centres of growth in Cambridge, Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford and Southend and supported by smaller market towns. This burgeoning economic strength is increasingly threatened by the hopeless gridlock, congestion and capacity shortfall on our transport network. Local businesses and quality of life are undermined. Commuters on the Greater Anglia franchise who commute on the Great Eastern main line have long been let down by underinvestment and the whole of the east of England has suffered for too long from the effects of this underinvestment. These commuters are effectively paying to subsidise rail services elsewhere as the franchise hands £110 million a year over to the Treasury. They also suffer from frequent delays and problems on the line as congestion and signalling problems impact on them on a regular basis. Indeed, I was in the Clerk of the Parliaments’ office earlier this week and was told by the PA who travels from Hatfield Peverel of the terrible delays on Tuesday due to signalling failure, as mentioned by the noble Baroness. The region’s passengers deserve a better service and value for money for the fares they pay.

Investing in infrastructure and services—such as improvements to tracks to boost capacity and to reduce delays and congestion, new trains, and better passenger services such as wi-fi and refreshments—could potentially unlock £3.7 billion of economic growth for the region. This economic analysis was put together in the GEML capacity study report. I congratulate the region’s MPs who have all got together to publish a rail prospectus to further the campaign for investment in rail services and infrastructure. The prospectus outlines the measures needed to support economic growth and job creation in the region through the railways. These measures are intended to deliver regular services between London and Ipswich with journey times brought down to 60 minutes and between London and Norwich with journey times brought down to 90 minutes—also known as the “Norwich in Ninety” campaign. The prospectus has been supported by councils, business groups and rail user groups in the region and I understand the Secretary of State for Transport has been engaged with this process, meeting MPs and organisations to discuss the plans.

In Network Rail’s strategic business plan for control period 5—investment period 2014-19—it has committed to spending around £2.2 billion in the east of England. The infrastructure improvements include works to signals, new switches and crosses, and the remodelling of Bow Junction near Stratford to increase capacity. The region will also benefit from Crossrail coming to Shenfield. All these investments are welcome but further investment is needed to boost this economic corridor. In particular, commuter and freight capacity on the GEML will be enhanced considerably by introducing four-tracking north-east of Chelmsford. I am sure my noble friend Lord Hanningfield will have more to say about that. This new infrastructure could be put in place to coincide with the development of Beaulieu Park and a proposed new station being constructed there. I pay tribute to my honourable friend in the other place, indeed my own Member of Parliament, Priti Patel. She has been working closely with Essex County Council, Chelmsford City Council, the Essex chambers of commerce, Network Rail and Abellio Greater Anglia to develop a strong economic case for this new infrastructure, recently holding a meeting with them in Chelmsford. Other improvements that are being pressed for include: new, refitted or fully refurbished rolling stock; an increased frequency of services; improvements to branch lines; increased parking capacity at train stations; and track upgrades throughout the GEML to enable services to travel at 110mph to speed up journey times. The new Greater Anglia franchise is due to be in place from October 2016. The franchising process also presents an opportunity to secure new improvements to the train services in the region.

The east of England has suffered for too long from the effects of underinvestment in its rail network. The time is now overdue to rebalance this regional anomaly. Modern growth demands effective rail links to drive a balanced innovation economy, to facilitate sustainable housing and development, and to support an international transport network. I look forward to the Minister’s response to the points that I and others raise in this debate.