Oral Answers to Questions

Ian Mearns Excerpts

Thursday 12th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

I am sure my hon. Friend was pleased by the £500 million a year—£2.5 billion in total, which is more than the £2 billion promised in our manifesto—to help fill potholes, and I look forward to working with her and other colleagues to ensure their potholes are filled as soon as possible.

[Ian Mearns (Gateshead) (Lab)]

At a recent meeting, London North Eastern Railway shared with me its ambition to introduce an extra train per hour between Newcastle and King’s Cross, but owing to a lack of capacity on the east coast main line, this can only be achieved by curtailing other providers’ services at York, meaning that fewer trains, if any, will run between Edinburgh, Tyneside, Tees Valley, south and west Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside. How soon can we expect the levelling-up investment on the east coast main line north of York necessary to fulfil all these competing ambitions?

[Chris Heaton-Harris]

I am fully aware of the issue that the hon. Gentleman—no, right hon. Gentleman?

[Ian Mearns]

indicated dissent.