Ben Wallace
Main Page: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)Department Debates - View all Ben Wallace's debates with the Department for Transport
(11 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr McLoughlin
I gently say to the hon. Gentleman, because he is bringing a chord of disharmony into what so far has been a fairly harmonious occasion, that we have made more progress on high-speed rail in two years than the previous Government did in 13.
Mr Ben Wallace (Wyre and Preston North) (Con)
I warmly welcome the announcement today that my constituents’ journey time from London to Preston will be reduced by 30% from 2 hours 8 minutes to 1 hour 24 minutes—a great thing for Preston. However, there is still some confusion among the public, who believe that a stop is necessary to benefit from the speed of HS2. Will the Secretary of State make it absolutely clear to many of my constituents, who use Lancaster and Preston, that as soon as phase 1 is started they will benefit from the reduced journey times, whether or not they have a stop?
Mr McLoughlin
My hon. Friend is right to say that his constituents will benefit from the opening of the first part of the line, from London to Birmingham, because the trains will be able to travel at high speed between those two cities, saving about 40 minutes on overall journey times. And that is before we have extended the line further north.