Conor McGinn
Main Page: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)Department Debates - View all Conor McGinn's debates with the Department for Transport
(8 years, 10 months ago)
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The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Mr Robert Goodwill)
I have always made it clear that this regulation is not required to fix a problem in the UK because we already have a competitive port sector with competition between ports. The general approach adopted by Council addressed many of our concerns, particularly the competitive market exemption. What is interesting is that this week, while a number of amendments were passed in the European Parliament’s transport committee, the mandate to go forward into trialogues was not given. At the moment, the regulation has run into the deep sand, and I hope it will remain there.
Conor McGinn (St Helens North) (Lab)
St Helens North is in the Mersey travel area, but thousands of my constituents commute outside it to work in Wigan, Warrington and Manchester, which means that they are effectively paying a levy on their journeys. What progress has been made towards a smart ticketing system for the north of England, which would put an end to these increasingly arbitrary travel boundaries?
Andrew Jones
Transport for the North is developing its plans for smart ticketing across the north, and the Government have provided £150 million to assist it with the project. I am a great supporter of smart ticketing, and I will be helping Transport for the North all the way.