Transport (Tees Valley)

Iain Wright Excerpts

Tuesday 10th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Iain Wright (Hartlepool) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald) for giving up some of his time to allow me to make a number of very brief points. I wholly agree with what he said about the governance of the transport board, which penalises, excludes and isolates our region from the rest of northern transport policy and procedures. I also agree fully about the importance of proper investment in our rolling stock. The Pacer trains to which he referred are unacceptable and no longer used in the rest of the country, so they should be considered unacceptable and unusable in Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and on to Newcastle, as well.

I shall concentrate, as I have on many occasions, on the inadequacy of our bus service. As my hon. Friend said, only re-regulation will provide a co-ordinated proper bus service for our region. In the past week, I have received correspondence from the principal of Hartlepool college, who said that inadequate transport provision meant that potential students from Teesside, North Yorkshire and South Durham were not able or could not afford to get to the college. Apprentices aged 16 or 17 from Hartlepool might not be able to take up the opportunities in Wilton or elsewhere.

Ensuring that the transport system, particularly the bus network, matches the routes to learning and employment, as well as ensuring that we can avoid social exclusion, are crucial. At the moment, that does not happen on Teesside. I therefore ask the Minister what he will do to ensure that we can provide a cheap, reliable and co-ordinated bus and transport network across Teesside so that people in our area have the opportunity to achieve their potential and make sure that the population and industrial potential are matched.