Great Western Railway Routes

Huw Irranca-Davies Excerpts

Monday 8th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

Does the hon. Gentleman share my profound disappointment over the delays in the western rail access to Heathrow, which the Hendy review announced would be put back a further two years? This access will bring the biggest inward investment to the UK, as well as helping travellers from all over the west of England—

[Huw Irranca-Davies (Ogmore) (Lab)]

And Wales.

[Fiona Mactaggart]

Indeed, and Wales. It will help those travellers to get to Heathrow—our premier hub airport. Will the hon. Gentleman press the Minister to ensure that, as a result of this debate, someone in her Department puts their foot on the accelerator of western rail access to Heathrow?

--- Later in debate ---

[Kevin Foster]

I thank the right hon. Lady for her passionate and well-argued intervention. She is absolutely right that the western rail access to Heathrow makes eminent sense for south Wales, my region and the Slough area. It will support not only the economies of our areas but the national economy, by making it easier to expand and develop our key hub airport. I hope that one thing the Minister will look at is the timeline for the western rail access. Given the widespread support across the House for that access, I hope that the timeframe will be greatly shortened so that people can get the shovels in the ground on this project, which makes eminent sense.

I am conscious that I could give a long list of improvements that are needed. I am sure that several contributors are about to highlight those they see as vital for their areas. For me, there are two key issues that affect the whole network—resilience and electrification. The Dawlish collapse brought into stark view how vulnerable parts of the main line are. That is not the only issue, but it has given us the opportunity to debate all these other issues. As my hon. Friend the Member for South West Devon (Mr Streeter) said in his foreword to the “On Track” report by the Peninsula Rail Task Force:

“It took a crisis to get here, but this is our chance”.

It is worth looking at the impact that that crisis had. My hon. Friend the Member for North Cornwall (Scott Mann) reminded us of the impact that the railway has on tourism. Some 7% of Torbay’s tourist visitors come by train. After the pictures of the hanging tracks in the media, there was a 20% drop in tourism bookings because of the image it created. That shows that this is not just a transport issue.

[Huw Irranca-Davies]

I want to support the point the hon. Gentleman is making. The incident he is talking about was the most extreme example of damage to a piece of major rail infrastructure. It is no fault of Great Western Railway, but I travelled up from south Wales by bus for part of my journey today because of flooding on part of the line. Okay, that is an extreme event, but we are having more and more. There is also regular flooding around the Severn tunnel. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that we need to be absolutely sure that we have a resilient railway structure, as well as having electrification?

[Kevin Foster]

I agree completely. My constituency is not scheduled to benefit from the electrification project, but it is affected by flooding on the Somerset levels. It is vital that we make sure our railway is future-proofed. A few years back, I took a bus in the constituency of the right hon. Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw) when there was flooding on the railway line across Cowley bridge that looked like something out of the Bible. It is vital that we tackle the range of resilience issues, not just the very famous issue on the coast. I know that Network Rail is looking at the cliffs near Teignmouth. I am sure that my hon. Friend the Member for Newton Abbot (Anne Marie Morris) will talk a bit more about that in her contribution. That aspect needs to be looked at too, not just the sea wall. Much of the signalling throughout Devon and Cornwall was installed in the 1960s. It is listed for consideration in control period 6, which is between 2019 and 2024, and it is vital that that goes ahead because we must improve journey times and ensure a modern infrastructure.

The issue of resilience has been brought into focus by the imminent publication of the final report from the Peninsula Rail Task Force, which will set out its 20-year plan for railways in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. Resilience will be at the heart of that, and it is vital to have the funding needed to complete such a commitment. There have been encouraging noises on that issue over the past week or two, and I hope that we might hear a couple more words from the Minister when she responds to the debate. It is clear just how vital it is that we secure that line.

Electrifying the Great Western route into south Wales is probably the single biggest project on that line since the Severn tunnel, and it will electrify the line in communities along that route—I suspect that colleagues may wish to speak a little more about that. It is pleasing that in the south-west it is no longer the case that the only way to get close to a bit of electrified track is to buy a train set! As a member of the Public Accounts Committee I have sat through a discussion on progress so far—not least the estimated cost of that electrification, which has now reached £2.8 billion—and I imagine that the Minister might not be relishing the thought of committing to more such projects. However, it is right that those issues are highlighted, as investment must not just be about creating a corridor for electric trains to speed through to south Wales; it must be the starting point for an integrated network of electrification across the areas served by Great Western Railway.

--- Later in debate ---

[Huw Irranca-Davies (Ogmore) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Newton Abbot (Anne Marie Morris), whose stirring speech I thoroughly enjoyed. Let me also commend the hon. Member for Torbay (Kevin Foster) for securing the debate, which I think will prove very useful.

The Great Western Railway is important to me, because, along with my Welsh colleagues, I use it regularly. I have used it for the last 15 years, and, if I am fortunate—I am assuming nothing—I may be using it shortly to travel back in that direction for the final time as I head down to the Welsh Assembly. It all depends on the electorate. However, as others have said, the railway is critically important not just to politicians who travel back and forth to work and to represent their constituents, but to the economies of the areas involved. As we heard from the hon. Member for Newton Abbott, the GWR will provide great GVA if we get it right.

I must thank the GWR for getting me here almost on time. I apologise to the hon. Member for Torbay for being a couple of minutes late; that is because part of my journey was on a coach. Fair play: the company ensured that the coaches were running, and managed to deal with the traumatic weather. I thank it for sorting that out for me, and for all the other passengers. However, it raises the issue—regardless of electrification—of run-of-the-mill resilience. Too many parts of our existing railway stock have a fluctuating ability to deliver the timetable that we need. All too often there is a shutdown, and even if it lasts for only two or three hours, trains back up in the wrong places, and the timetable has to catch up with where the rolling stock is. No doubt, following today’s debate, GWR, Arriva Trains Wales and the branch lines will be shuttling stock to try to catch up after the delays.

[Kevin Foster]

I am enjoying the hon. Gentleman’s speech, but does he agree that we must ensure that the rolling stock that we have is correctly specified? Cross-country journeys connect parts of south Devon and, sometimes, south Wales on the route to Birmingham, and some trains have not been not specified to go along a piece of track that a wave might go over.

[Huw Irranca-Davies]

That is a very good point. I hope that what has been said today will be noted not just by the Minister, but by train operating companies and infrastructure companies. I hope that they will act on the suggestions that have been made by Members, so that their services can work better for commuters and other passengers.

Several Members on both sides of the House have drawn attention to the importance of the spine of the network to all the branches that flow from it. It is not just to do with high-speed links or electrification. I travel here from Maesteg, where I live with my family—it is north of Bridgend, up the Llynfi valley—and I am fortunate that we still have a branch line there. Thank goodness that, at the height of the Beeching cuts, there was local opposition and strong-minded leadership in the Labour authority, and people fought and said that they would be damned if that line would close. They managed to keep it open, and nowadays it is a tremendous success. That route from Maesteg down to Bridgend, and all the way up to Chepstow and beyond, is a very popular route and we need to go further. We talk about travel-to-work areas. The people in my constituency travel down from Maesteg and from all the valleys I represent to work in Swansea, Bridgend and Cardiff, and they need good reliable and affordable transport in order to do that. We are fortunate that we have that in the Llynfi valley and we need to keep it that way.

We are also fortunate that we were able to open a new station on the Great Western mainline spine. It is rare to see that happen nowadays. The station at Llanharan, between Cardiff and Swansea, was closed in the ’60s under Beeching, but after a fight lasting more than 40 years, we were able, along with local Assembly Member Janice Gregory and local councillors Geraint Hopkins, Roger Turner and Barry Stephens, to reopen it. It has had great benefits, with more than 2,000 homes being built in the area and possibly another 2,000 on the way. The station has been an economic boon to the area. People want to come and live there because it is not just a place along the Great Western spine route; it now has a station. The point has been well made that we must ensure that we do not bypass communities when we deliver the electrification and the mainline spine; we also need to connect the spine to the communities.

[Jonathan Edwards]

The hon. Gentleman seems to have neglected to mention the role played by Ieuan Wyn Jones, the Transport Minister in the Welsh Government at the time, and a member of my party.

[Huw Irranca-Davies]

Ieuan Wyn Jones played a good hand in that campaign, and so did Andrew Davies, the Economic Minister at the time. His officials were telling him that the economic case for the station did not quite stack up, but he told them that it would when they saw the 2,000 new homes and the new schools that would come in as a result. My goodness, he was right. When I travel through the new station now, I see scores of people using it at every hour of the day as they commute to Cardiff for shopping or visiting relatives or to go to work. It has been a tremendous success, and we need to think more about these projects alongside the electrification.

Another critical aspect of using the spine along the Great Western railway is to ensure that it also connects to the south Wales metro. I use that name deliberately; I am not talking about the Cardiff Bay metro. This needs to be a genuine south Wales metro. In my area, linked to the Great Western line, we have the Llynfi line that was protected all those years ago, but we also have three valleys that have no connections to rail links at all. They need to be linked in to the First Great Western line when it is electrified and delivering faster services. That link might take the form of light rail, or perhaps good coaches and buses operating to the right timetable to enable them to make the connections at the right times of the day.

That kind of thinking has to happen, and representatives of Bridgend County Borough Council, under the leadership of Mel Nott, are now sitting down with the Welsh Government to work out how to join those communities that have no rail links to the Great Western spine, so that people in those communities can get to work and go to meet their friends and so that elderly people there can socialise with friends who live further away without having to get an expensive taxi.

[Byron Davies (Gower) (Con)]

You are making some important points. Would you accept that the electrification of the line down to Swansea by the Conservative Government is going to result in greatly increased social mobility for the people of the valleys?

[Huw Irranca-Davies]

I agree entirely with the hon. Gentleman, but I hope that he will support my point that this project must be delivered on time as originally pledged and, hopefully, on budget as well. The hon. Member for Newton Abbot said earlier that too many people think that the south-west ends at Bristol. Well, too many people up here think that south Wales ends at Cardiff. Cardiff is a brilliant city—please go there and visit. Newport had the NATO conference and Cardiff has the greatest stadium in the land, with the only covered surface. Wales also has the best national opera company. Cardiff was third in the top 10 short break destinations in the whole of Europe recently. However, south Wales does not stop at Cardiff. Just beyond that line, there is Bridgend, and just beyond Bridgend is Swansea. Beyond that is west Wales.

So I fully agree with the hon. Member for Gower (Byron Davies), but I want to say to the Minister today, “Don’t short-change us through these delays.” We have been talking about the economic benefits and we were told that the electrification project would be delivered to Swansea—not to Bristol, not to Cardiff, not to Bridgend, but to Swansea—and we want it to go to Swansea. Let us look at the developments that are happening in Swansea at the moment. There is the SA1 project and the new university campus out at Briton Ferry. These are tremendous jewels in Swansea’s economic crown, and they need to be joined up. South Wales does not stop at Cardiff—brilliant city though that is. It goes way beyond that, and we need this project to be delivered.

I agree with the hon. Member for Gower’s primary point that we need to get the electrification completed, but I hope that he would agree with me that we need to get it done promptly and on time, without the delays that we have been talking about. We have now been told that it is to be put back into control period 6. For those who do not know what that means, control period 6 is between 2019 and 2024, which would mean that the project would not be completed at the same time as the rest, around 2018. So in effect, Christmas will come late for the hon. Gentleman’s constituents and for mine. We are going to have to wait for our Christmas presents, and that is not good enough. His constituents are not second-class citizens of this nation and neither are mine. Let us have this project on time, at the same time as everybody else. I know that he agrees with me on this.

[Jonathan Edwards]

The hon. Gentleman is making a very important point. Does he agree that it would be far better if these large infrastructure development projects started in Swansea as opposed to starting in London? If they started in Swansea, you can guarantee they would arrive in London on time and in budget.

[Huw Irranca-Davies]

I would certainly be reasonably happy with that. I would probably start them from Bridgend and work outwards in both directions, but starting from Swansea would be a good second option.

I was talking about connectivity with the Great Western rail line, and the necessity of delivering the Heathrow link has been mentioned in this regard. Come what may in terms of capacity expansion at Heathrow, that link needs to be made. The journey from South Wales to Heathrow is preposterous at the moment, and that link needs to be delivered. Again, it would provide a major economic boon. It is not only business people who say this—although they do, repeatedly; it is also commuters. It is also myself. I fly from Cardiff and from Bristol, and I also fly from Heathrow. These preposterous patterns of travel need to be remedied, and that needs to be done quickly. These plans have been sat on for years and years.

The hon. Member for Gower has said that the electrification plans are good, but they must be delivered on time. The Welsh Government have made it clear, as have other parties in Wales, that we are holding this Government to their original commitment of delivering it on time and on budget. I would ask the Minister to ensure that, when this is done, full discussions are held with the communities along the routes about the related infrastructure developments that would really benefit those communities. I will give the House an infamous example, from my own constituency. The lovely town of Pencoed still has a traditional level crossing, and it is one of the busiest in the land. It is right in the centre, next to the cenotaph and the shops. When we march there on Remembrance Sunday every year, we have to time our marches to take account of what can be a 15-minute wait while the level crossing is closed. Of course, that happens every day of the week, not just on Remembrance Sunday.

If we have this major investment that will require not only electrical infrastructure but raising the height of bridges and making major structural changes in different communities, I would love to meet the Minister, with Mel Nott from the local authority and the town council, to discuss how we can all work together to get rid of the level crossing and upgrade the bridge which is only half a mile or less up the road, so that we can get two lanes of traffic over it. That would allow us to solve the problem the level crossing causes, as well as drive electrification all the way down the line. Perhaps the Minister would invite me to meet her, along with a small delegation, because we think we can bring something to the table—the town council can, as can the county borough—and we can make this work for those communities as we drive electrification through.

My final point on electrification goes back to one made by the hon. Member for Gower, who represents constituents at the end of the main spine of the line. In case Ministers are confused, I should say that it does not finish there; it goes way beyond that, up into west Wales. For the purpose of this project, however, Swansea is regarded as where the Government originally said they would deliver electrification to. We are not talking about hybrid electrification—half diesel, half electric—variations or something that is late, but about electrification on time.

Regardless of that, at the moment we have been told that because of the delay we have no clear costings—to my knowledge, they have not been done—no clear start date, and thus no certainty. My worry is that this will drift, so I want some more clarity from the Minister today. I would love her to say that this is going to start between 2019 and 2024 and to give a date for delivering the full costings, so that we have a little more certainty that even though this is drifting, it is not drifting into the back of beyond. This is a great project. I wish all south-west Members, including the hon. Member for North Devon (Peter Heaton-Jones)—we stare at each other across the Severn estuary or the Bristol channel from our glorious coastlines—well in their aspirations for their areas. But my area needs electrification on time and on budget, so that we can link up all the other things we have been talking about in a cohesive infrastructure for south Wales and on to west Wales.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

--- Later in debate ---

[Peter Heaton-Jones]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. I am delighted to welcome him to beautiful north Devon. The rolling stock is an essential matter, as it has been left to decay to the point that it is only just fit for purpose. I have held a significant number of meetings with the operators, GWR, Network Rail and the Tarka Rail Association and we have discussed at length the importance of acquiring significant new rolling stock. I am delighted to say that we now appear to have reached a position where there will be a “cascade” of rolling stock. I would rather not use the phrase “cast-off” that was previously used, because I want to strike a more positive note. We will have a cascade of—almost—21st century rolling stock coming towards us for that line.

[Huw Irranca-Davies]

May I take this opportunity to stress the importance of access for wheelchair users? My friend Simon Green from the Bridgend Coalition for Disabled People stresses that, very often, in railway carriages there is space for only one wheelchair, so two people travelling together have to be split up. It would be great if we looked at the possibility of different variations in the new rolling stock.

[Peter Heaton-Jones]

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. I have travelled on the north Devon line between Barnstable and Exeter, and, quite often, there is no room at all for a single wheelchair user, which is why we need to get this new rolling stock cascaded to us as soon as possible.

Let me turn away from the specifics of the north Devon line to the Great Western main line, which is a vital artery for the south-west. We have talked a lot about the resilience of the line. We absolutely rely on that single rail line to provide us with a transport artery to the south-west. When incidents occur, such as the one in Dawlish, the effects are devastating. Even though people who come to north Devon often jump off the line well before Dawlish—like me, they usually get off at Tiverton Parkway—the fact is that when we have the sort of incident that happened at Dawlish, the whole of the south-west and all the constituencies represented by Members here are affected. We need to ensure that we have the resilience of that line sewn up for the future, which means addressing the difficulties at Dawlish. The right hon. Member for Exeter made the point that the cliffs on one side of the line are just as much a problem as the coast, on the other side of the line. I have seen for myself that that is a problem. We also need to consider this second line—the Okehampton route—that will start to open up a vital northern corridor. I have an interest in such a route, as I represent north Devon.

The flooding issue is also of significance. As I came up on the train this morning, I saw how close the line was to the Somerset levels. Then there is the electrification issue. I absolutely agree with Members from all parts of the House that we need to speed up the process of electrification of the line. I am delighted that it is planned to go through to south Wales, but we need to ensure that we get it down to the south-west.

I add a note of concern here: if we get no significant movement on this until control period 6—in other words starting in 2019—we will be pushed back to the end of the queue. I hope that the Minister can give us some positive news in this regard. In particular, I hope that she can provide us with some reassurance on these two feasibility studies into the resilience and the electrification of the line, which have been mentioned a few times already. Without going into all the do’s and don’ts of who said what, of where the money was coming from, and of whether it was cut from point A or from point B, the fact is that we need a relatively small amount of money to undertake those two vital reports, and they really need to be done. I hope that, when the Minister gets to her feet at the end of the debate, she will have some positive news for us. One cannot stress too much how important it is to have those two studies done.

Let me briefly mention the Peninsula Rail Task Force and the excellent work it has done. Its 20-year plan certainly bears reading and taking seriously, because it has a vision for the rail line that we in the south-west deserve.

As has been mentioned, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor came down to the south-west on a number of occasions. They came to my constituency—to Saunton in the case of the Chancellor—and announcements and promises were made and ambitions mentioned. They talked about investment for the south-west rail line. I feel sure that, when the rail Minister gets to her feet, she will be able to reassure us that those promises will be delivered. It is vital for all of us in north Devon and the wider south-west that we have a resilient, fast and efficient rail service.

--- Later in debate ---

[Scott Mann]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Train connections have raised the wage base in other areas, and over the years the south-west has suffered from a low wage, high house price economy. Many of our young people struggle to get houses and to get on in life. If those rail services come online, businesses will invest in the south-west, which will give our young people every opportunity, which is great.

[Huw Irranca-Davies]

The hon. Gentleman is making a fine speech. I urge him to look, when he has time, at the development of the south Wales metro concept, because it covers urban and rural areas, and valleys as well as major conurbations. It is a great idea, because it relies not only on rail, but on other modes of transport that work on time and are affordable. It has a way to go, but a south-west metro concept comes to mind.

[Scott Mann]

I will, of course, have a look at those reports. The hon. Gentleman spoke eloquently about his valleys and the branch lines within his valleys, so I look forward to reading those reports.

In conclusion, the Great Western railway is a valuable asset to the south-west and it could be improved. Without it, the region would crumble, which is why we must make it better, faster and more resilient. Today, many of my colleagues will have been affected by the severe weather in the south-west. In fact, we have heard that four fallen trees have affected the railway service in Bodmin and around the south-west. It is quite fitting that those trains have been delayed on the same day as this debate. I am confident that the GWR franchise will continue to serve our region well, linking it to the capital, and that the Peninsula Rail Task Force and the south-west MPs will all work together for our corner of Britain and make it a better place to live, work and play.

--- Later in debate ---

[Claire Perry]

I will follow your excellent advice, Mr Deputy Speaker.

My hon. Friend the Member for Newton Abbot (Anne Marie Morris) made possibly one of the most impassioned speeches we have heard in the House, drawing attention to the value of this investment and what it does for the region. As for the hon. Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies), who made a powerful speech about the extension of the line to Swansea, I am very sad that he will—potentially—leave us in May. I hope that it has nothing to do with anyone whom he nominated for the Labour party leadership; it would be awful to think that he was disappearing on that basis. He will be much missed by many Members on both sides of the House. I have asked my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Glamorgan (Alun Cairns), the Under-Secretary of State for Wales, if he will meet the hon. Gentleman, as a matter of urgency, to discuss the important infrastructure issues that he raised.

My hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Oliver Colvile) was, I believe, the only Member who mentioned the vital role of freight on the railways, and he was very clear about his priorities for the constituency. I am delighted that the Laira depot, which I have visited, is being retained, because of the important jobs that it brings, although I was disappointed that he did not mention hedgehogs once. I had hoped to hear a plea for a hedgehog crossing.

My hon. Friend the Member for North Devon (Peter Heaton-Jones)—whom I have enjoyed meeting many times, along with Mr Mike Day—raised the possible opportunities on the Tarka line, which are fantastic. My door is open, and I am happy to give further consideration to his proposals.

The right hon. Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart), who is no longer in the Chamber—I think that she had to leave early—is another passionate campaigner for rail. Her constituency will, of course benefit from the Government’s record investment in the railway, and particularly in Crossrail. I take her point about the Heathrow spur. However, she accused my Department of having tunnel vision. Far from it: we are multi-tasking on a daily basis. We are delivering the electrification of the midland main line, the Great Western main line electrification—about which I shall say more shortly—the multi-billion-pound Thameslink programme, and Crossrail. We are delivering £38 billion of investment on the country’s railways. That is the biggest investment programme since Victorian times. However, one of the lessons that we have painfully learnt is that if we are committing money, it must be spent wisely. The hon. Lady was right to raise the Heathrow issue, and it will be delivered, but it is a question of appropriate sequencing.

My hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Plymouth, Moor View (Johnny Mercer)—who is not a trainspotter, I gather—made a powerful point about the regional need for transport investment to drive entrepreneurial growth. He made the important point, which was received rather churlishly by Labour Members, that private sector economic growth drives the best improvement in life chances, particularly in a disadvantaged constituency. I was disappointed by Labour Members’ reaction to that.

[Huw Irranca-Davies]

In fact, the private sector has an important role to play in development and growth. However, as the Minister will know, the company that has achieved the highest satisfaction, the highest investment and the lowest bills is a not-for-profit water company called Dwr Cymru, which returns its surpluses to shareholders. Does she agree that the Wales consultation—it was launched on my birthday, 22 January—on a not-for-dividend model for the Wales and Borders franchise is a worthwhile exercise, given that it is considering a different way of delivering more value to rail users?

[Claire Perry]

When the hon. Gentleman becomes First Minister—which is, I am sure, his aspiration—he will have every opportunity to look at models for that franchise for the Welsh railways, because it is a devolved matter. However, I hope that he will be grateful, as I am, for the Government’s commitment of £125 million, over and above the Barnett consequentials, to ensure that electrification of the Welsh valleys is delivered. How the work is sequenced will, of course be within the purview of the Welsh Government.

As always, my hon. and, allegedly, rugged Friend the Member for North Cornwall (Scott Mann) spoke passionately about the potential of his constituency. He also made the important point that branch lines that create local connectivity are vital to the railway. I hope that the Peninsula Rail Task Force, about which I shall say more later—I know that there is bated breath in the Chamber—will capture some of the investment. My hon. Friend also made an important point about the sleeper service, which the Government have supported with a multi-million-pound investment. I am glad that it is rocking him to sleep every Thursday night, but it is also a vital way of building the tourism and business pathway down to the south-west, and I am very pleased that that work has been done.

My hon. Friend the Member for Wells (James Heappey) pointed out the importance of transport links, including road links. I am sorry that I was ruled out of order by mentioning road links earlier, so I will not mention them again, Mr Deputy Speaker. My hon. Friend made a point about regional investment, and I want to assure him that this is not a zero-sum game. It is not a question of pitching the north against the south-west or the south-east. In this Government’s view, transport investment across the local, regional and national economies drives up economic growth, and economic growth delivers greater tax revenues and greater skills. That is a boat that floats the entire country higher, so if we can generate economic growth from transport investment, we will all benefit from that.

My hon. Friend made the fascinating point about regional transport around an area and talked about commuting into Bristol, where house prices can be very high. I hail from that area and I know it very well. In this regard, we would be looking to organisations such as the Peninsula Rail Task Force to help us to understand where every pound of spending can deliver maximum economic growth.

My hon. Friend the Member for Taunton Deane (Rebecca Pow) cannot be here tonight as she is recovering from surgery, but she too has campaigned on the vital issue of regional connectivity and is working hard on proposals to put forward to the new station investment fund, to which this Government have committed another £20 million in the latest spending review. I hope that I have now mentioned everyone who has contributed to the debate.

What is going on with this line? This debate is about the future of the Great Western railway. Some people have called it “God’s wonderful railway;” others have called it the “great way round.” It is a railway that I know very well. I grew up in Bristol and I remember when the InterCity 125s came to the city. It was as though we were no longer cut off; we were finally connected. However, as many Members have pointed out, those self-same trains are still running today. Some of them have been re-patched; they have been rebranded and refreshed. They still work, and they are a tribute to their engineering, design and maintenance, but they are now old trains. In the past 20 years, passenger numbers have doubled on that line. Indeed, since privatisation, passenger journeys are at a record high, with numbers having doubled across the country.

Too many trains are overcrowded and too many paths are full. Successive Governments of all political colours—I hold my hands up here—have not taken the necessary tough decisions on railway investment. Too many difficult decisions have been ducked and, as I have said, Labour’s record on this is really nothing to shout about. However, despite the appalling economic chaos that we inherited, this Government have picked up the pieces and said, “We will invest more than £38 billion on our railways.” Moreover—if I may crave your indulgence for a moment, Mr Deputy Speaker—we will put our road investment budget on a sustainable basis, so that all our transport systems can be protected.

This is truly the most ambitious rail upgrade since Victorian times, and it is being directed at the south-west because that region is a priority for this Government. Good transport reduces the cost of doing business. It helps local companies to reach new markets and to grow, and it helps local people to travel to new opportunities. It helps students to travel to our wonderful universities. However, poor transport acts as a drag on growth and on social aspiration, and this Government understand the importance of rail investment in the south-west.

Powerful cases have been made tonight about the need to transform the Great Western main line. Over the next four years, the 40-year-old InterCity 125s will be replaced by reliable cutting-edge intercity express trains. I have seen them, and they are great. Along with the electrification of the fleet running on the suburban lines around London, they will deliver a 40% increase in the number of seats coming into Paddington. That is an incredible number, and it will start to deal with the overcrowding problems that we have heard about tonight. Also, journey times will be cut by up to 15 minutes, which will help to achieve some of the ambitions that have been described today. Fifty stations and 170 bridges will be improved, along with 200 miles of track and 17 tunnels, including the Box tunnel, which I have been through on a people-mover. All this work is going on.

The hon. Member for Ogden—[Hon. Members: “Ogmore.”] The hon. Member for Ogbourne—

[Claire Perry]

I know Bristol much better than Wales. The hon. Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies) made an important point about electrification. I want to tell him that the commitment to electrify the line to Cardiff is absolutely baked into the new Hendy plans, and he must consider that as preliminary work towards Swansea—[Interruption.] It is difficult to get through the Severn tunnel, as he knows, but the work is going on and the gantries are in place. We have made the commitment that the electrification will continue on to Swansea the next capital period. [Interruption.] He says, “What about the new trains?” Of course the hybrid trains that we have purchased will be able to run on those tracks, so his constituents will see the journey time and capacity improvements, and those brand-new, state-of-the-art trains. I hope that he will at least be happy with that—

[Huw Irranca-Davies]

rose—

[Claire Perry]

I can tell that the hon. Gentleman is not and that he is going to ask for another piece of infrastructure.

[Huw Irranca-Davies]

I winced only because I could feel the whole population west of Cardiff wincing at the same time as we were told that that was an interim measure to get us there. I do understand the point the Minister was making, however. Will the right hon. Lady—

[Claire Perry]

Hon. Lady.

[Huw Irranca-Davies]

She would be right hon. in my eyes if she could give the date when we will see the completion to Swansea.

[Claire Perry]

I am sorry, but I do not have that completion date. As the plans proceed and the work accelerates on the electrification to Cardiff, I will be happy to make sure that the hon. Gentleman is one of the first people to know, in whatever the capacity. I was invited earlier to choose glory, but my job is to serve—that is it.

Let us talk a little about the direct investment, as well as this Great Western line, because some people, including the hon. Gentleman, might legitimately say, “That is fine, but it just goes to Bristol and the south-west is much more than just Bristol.” Indeed, it is much more than just Cardiff, if we are talking about south Wales. What is actually happening for the south-western peninsula? Hon. Members were right to say that the south-west has sat and watched other regions pull ahead and wondered why that was happening. The south-west has vital extractive industries and some brilliant talent, but we are, in effect, cut off. Whether it was what happened at Dawlish or other transport network issues that had to prove that, the events at Dawlish were a wake-up call for so many of us. The work done on restoring that line showed that where there was a will and funding, there was a way to deliver. That is why in this Parliament the Government are investing more than £400 million directly in the rail system for this region. We are providing the class AT300 trains—the bimodal trains—which go through my constituency, too. I put my hands up: this is a great thing for my constituents, too. Those trains will provide fast, reliable journey times down to the south-west.

We have opened a new station at Newcourt, with others to come at Marsh Barton and at Edginswell, in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Torbay in the next 18 months. We are re-signalling the main line from Totnes to Penzance, which is vital. The right hon. Member for Exeter mentioned Reading station, where this Government are making a £700 million investment in untangling freight and passenger lines, so cutting a key source of delay on that line. We have overhauled the Night Riviera sleeper trains, and I am told that the new launch will be before the vital tourist season this year. We are expanding the Long Rock train maintenance site at Penzance to maintain those trains, and of course we spent £35 million at Dawlish at the time of the works, and money has continued to go into that project since, because it is not enough just to stabilise the track for now.

As we have heard over and again tonight, the challenge will be in future-proofing these lines, which are in some of the most exposed parts of the railway network. That is why £3.5 million has been spent by Network Rail on the geological analysis—on the cliff resilience analysis—to make sure that what is proposed for Dawlish works for the future. An additional £31 million is also being spent at 10 sites across the south-west, including the works at Cowley bridge, and the installation of rainfall and other monitoring. We are trying to make sure that the flooding problems we saw in 2014 do not happen again.

We have a plan for the south-west and we are determined to improve the resilience for the south-west. We also have a plan for Wales, and although the hon. Member for Ogmore may not be entirely happy with it, this Government are delivering for Wales, too. I was pleased to hear an almost universal series of comments about Great Western Railway today, which is delivering its highest ever score for overall passenger satisfaction. As has been said time and again today, it has really delivered at a time of tough service disruption. It is delivering 3% year-on-year increases in customer scores and it is determined to do more.

There is a No.1 question today. People have said, “Okay Minister, you have told us that this matters and clearly there is a long-term plan, but what about the resilience study?” I am delighted to assure the House that we have indeed negotiated a package that will make sure that those relatively small but important studies do go ahead, to form part of the plan that we are expecting to get from the great Peninsula Rail Task Force. I wanted to keep everyone in suspense until the last possible moment. Therefore, the GRIP 2 study—governance for railway investment projects—into line speed improvements between London and Devon and Cornwall can go ahead to establish what more can be done to bring about track and signalling improvements. That is an important but not the only part of the study. I am really excited that the Peninsula Rail Task Force will report in June with a vision for the next 20 years. That work will include the resilience questions at Dawlish and the journey time improvements we need. That is no easy task, so we should all thank the relevant parties, led ably by the chair of Devon County Council, for putting that work together.