Great Eastern Main Line

Claire Perry Excerpts

Tuesday 11th November 2014 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Claire Perry)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I warmly and sincerely congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Ben Gummer) on securing this vital debate on required future improvements in this vibrant region of the UK. I pay tribute both to the Members present today and to the team that has worked so hard with them on the report over the past year. I had the pleasure of meeting members of the team, particularly Mark Pendlington, who leads the New Anglia local enterprise partnership. I know that many others have also been involved in putting together this excellent piece of work.

The report is particularly helpful in that it sets out the underlying value that proper infrastructure development can bring. We are good at modelling transport benefits, but capturing the gross value added and the broader economic benefit is more difficult. However, the report is an exemplar of how to do that. The analysis will help to reinforce the need for and benefits of the vital investments in the transport system that serves the cities and communities of East Anglia, which, as so eloquently pointed out by my hon. Friend, is the UK’s second largest region in terms of economic contribution and is focused on high-value, white-hot growth industries, such as life sciences and biotech.

Of course, it is not only this region that needs rail investment. As my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) pointed out, there is under-investment right across the railway network. In the past 20 years, we have seen record numbers of passengers taking record numbers of journeys. In some cases, however, the railways have kept up. Satisfaction, punctuality and safety have all increased, and EU figures found that we have the most improved railway in Europe. Despite that, extraordinary growth in demand coupled with a lag in infrastructure investment means that we face overcrowding in some parts of the country and areas where journey times may increase. The great thing is that, as a coalition Government, we are finally realising the vital role of investment in transport infrastructure. We are seeing record levels of railway investment and the biggest investment in rail and rolling stock since Victorian times, with £38 billion being spent over the next five years on maintaining, upgrading and improving the network.

[Mr Andrew Turner (in the Chair)]

Order. I wonder whether the Minister could face the Chair.

[Claire Perry]

Forgive me, Mr Turner. You are quite right to correct me.

It is an opportune time to review the case for investment in the region, which is why the report is so timely. We have already committed to £170 million of track and signalling improvements on the Great Eastern main line next year and have agreed a package of improvements with the Abellio Greater Anglia franchise, including additional services between Stansted and Cambridge and refreshed trains on the Norwich to London route. I was joined by hon. Friends on a visit to road test some of the improvements. In fact, there is a photo somewhere of my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich trying out the new loo—in a mock-up capacity only. It is good to see that we are not standing still and waiting for investment; we are upgrading in line with what passengers require, which means simple things such as new toilets that do not leak, new carpets and seat covers, plug sockets and new lighting. Regarding wi-fi, which is available to all customers on inter-city services and free to first-class passengers, we are trying to find out the future deployment plans. I agree with my hon. Friends that it is an important part of the package going forward and will write to them.

Abellio Greater Anglia will work with the industry to develop and deliver all the Government’s control period 5 projects, including Crossrail, Great Eastern main line infrastructure improvements, improvements to the Ely area, Stratford to Angel Road capacity improvements, a new station at Lea Bridge, and additional peak capacity in 2014 to 2019 into Kings Cross and Liverpool Street to meet forecast commuter growth. There will also be additional freight capacity. We have not discussed freight, but it is an exceptionally important part of the railway mix, and we are considering ways of unblocking lines to allow both and freight and passenger trains to run. This is an incredibly opportune time for such a report. My boss the Secretary of State and I have both read it, and we are looking carefully at how the improvements might be delivered.

I commend the work that the group behind the report has done to unblock some of the long-held barriers of party political or cross-county agendas. It has been refreshing to see a strong cross-party and cross-county approach to the work. My hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich asked whether I had received any representations from the Opposition Front-Bench team, or indeed any Opposition Member, on this subject, but the answer is no. I am unsurprised, however, given that the previous Government electrified only eight miles of track in 13 years and failed to realise the valuable role that transport plays in building economic growth in regions across the country.

[Chloe Smith]

Does the Minister agree that it is a great shame that Opposition Members are not present to speak for themselves on the matter?

[Claire Perry]

It is a great shame, but it does not surprise me.

The Government will now be asking Network Rail how to progress the detailed development of the case that has been eloquently made for the line-speed changes, using the funding provided in the current rail investment strategy, to fund the best-value-for-money elements for completion by 2019. The opportunity for shorter journey times will be included in the development of the franchise to 2016, which is to be awarded from October of that year onwards. That could lead to bidders for the new franchise being asked specifically in their proposals how to address the requirements set out in the “Norwich in 90” report, in particular the totemic achievement of the 90-minute travel time. We propose to publish the consultation for the next East Anglia franchise on 1 December 2014, so it is an important time for anyone who wants to make further representations. In future franchise competitions, we expect bidders to give weight to both financial and quality considerations of rolling stock, focusing on passengers.

It is an exciting time for the rail industry across the UK. I heartily welcome the report, which represents an excellent forensic analysis of what can be unlocked with relatively small investment. I look forward to working with colleagues in taking the recommendations forward.

[Ben Gummer]

Does the Minister agree that letting the franchise in 2016 is a critical moment for ordering new rolling stock? If that were delayed, the report’s contents could not be delivered.

[Claire Perry]

My hon. Friend will be reassured to know that the new franchising timetable that my Department has put in place is running like clockwork—like a punctual train—so we anticipate that we will stick to the timetable.

[Robert Halfon]

Will the Minister give way?

[Claire Perry]

Just briefly, as I want to make a point about a visit that I am making on Friday.

[Robert Halfon]

Will the Minister confirm that she will write to me regarding my points about the West Anglia main line and Harlow?

[Claire Perry]

I was just moving on to what I am going to do. I will be delighted to write to or, even better, meet my hon. Friend to talk specifically about improvements for his hard-pressed commuters.

My hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich will be delighted to hear that I will be in his city—[Interruption.] Excuse me, his town.

[Wayne David (Caerphilly) (Lab)]

Village?

[Claire Perry]

Town, definitely, sir. I will be in my hon. Friend’s town on Friday, where I look forward to attending the Suffolk rail conference and hearing about the importance of investment in the region and understanding a little more about what passengers require.

In conclusion, the report is a wonderful piece of work. I pay tribute to all those involved and look forward to working with my hon. Friends in the room—it would be lovely to have some input from Opposition Members on such an important issue—in trying to implement what is feasible and practicable.