Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jonathan Reynolds and Lord McLoughlin

Thursday 10th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

The proposed trans-Pennine tunnel mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts) would be transformative, not just for congestion in my constituency, but for our local economy. Yes it is ambitious, but I say that the north is worthy of that level of ambition. Will the Secretary of State reiterate what he has just said, and urge the Chancellor to show his support next week?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I do not think I need to encourage the Chancellor on infrastructure spending. I have been incredibly successful in securing funding for infrastructure from the Chancellor, who certainly gets the importance of infrastructure investment, not least in the north. Indeed, it is his policy to pursue the northern powerhouse and to take forward transport for the north. That will have a transformative effect on transport between our northern cities and is something other parts of the country are looking to follow.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jonathan Reynolds and Lord McLoughlin

Thursday 10th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

Labour supports the extension of high-speed rail services to Scotland. To get there, however, we will have to get to the north of England first. Why are we still waiting for Ministers to confirm the route and the stations for HS2 north of Birmingham, and does the Secretary of State understand that this lack of progress is placing their commitment to HS2 in the midlands and the north in doubt?

[Mr McLoughlin]

With the greatest charity, I do not think the hon. Gentleman can get away with that. We have been making progress on HS2. In 13 years, Labour only woke up to the HS2 project in year 13. The progress we have made far outstrips the progress the Labour party ever made.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jonathan Reynolds and Lord McLoughlin

Thursday 29th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

We have covered £38.5 billion of investment in Network Rail over this control period. We are looking at ways in which other funding can be made available.

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

It was reported this week that due to the delay to the Great Western electrification programme taxpayers could be paying £3 million a week for trains that cannot move anywhere, or that they might have to foot the bill for fitting diesel engines to electric trains. Will the Secretary of State tell us who is to blame for this fiasco? Is it Network Rail for the delay to the work, is it the Department for Transport for signing the contract in the first place, or is it simply a symptom of the privatised structure of our railway that causes the kind of fragmentation that makes disasters like this frankly inevitable?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I welcome the hon. Gentleman to his position. He talks about privatised railways leading to this kind of disaster. This is a great example of somebody who has not held ministerial office, or who has just been in opposition, being able to forget everything that happened in the past. I remember, however, what the Labour candidate for Mayor of London, the right hon. Member for Tooting (Sadiq Khan), said:

“one reason we are able to invest record sums in our railway service is the revenues that the franchises bring in and the premiums that they pay”.—[Official Report, 1 July 2009; Vol. 495, c. 430.]

We are seeing record investment in our railway because of how we are running it. At the time it was fully nationalised we saw a declining railway, a useless railway, a railway that was not fit for purpose—something the Labour party wants to go back to.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jonathan Reynolds and Lord McLoughlin

Thursday 16th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

Of course, road improvements cannot take place without some disruption to the motorist, but I well understand the frustration that many people who use the M1 feel about the length of roadway that is currently under repair. I have already taken that up with the chief executive.

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

May I say that this is a superb question. One way to upgrade a motorway such as the M62 would be to improve existing road links between the north-west and Yorkshire. The Minister recently wrote to me and other affected MPs to inform us of the new strategic road study into a possible tunnel under the Peak district. Can the Secretary of State confirm that that would be in addition to the bypass scheme that has been announced for the Mottram in Longdendale area of my constituency, not a replacement for it, and that the Government’s vision is that the two schemes can be complementary?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I shall pass on the hon. Gentleman’s thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes South (Iain Stewart), who used to be my Parliamentary Private Secretary, for his superb question, which rightly exposes the huge road investment that the Government are taking forward.

The study that the hon. Gentleman refers to is being done by Colin Matthews. I await his report, and it is in addition to the scheme that has already been announced.

Road Investment Strategy

Debate between Jonathan Reynolds and Lord McLoughlin

Monday 1st December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

There are a number of whole-route technology upgrades to the A12, but I will certainly go away and investigate the specific point made by my right hon. Friend.

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

As the MP and former local councillor for Mottram and Hollingworth, where the new trans-Pennine investment will go, I am obviously extremely pleased. Ours is a problem that will be fixed only by new investment in new capacity and that is what I want for my area. I thank the Secretary of State for his statement and also the hon. Member for High Peak (Andrew Bingham). He and I have campaigned together on this issue since 2010 and we were told that we had no prospect of success, yet here we are with this good result today. The Secretary of State will understand that there is a huge hunger for further details in my area. Can he give us any more information on the time scale of establishing a route and on whether he believes that a public inquiry will be necessary?

[Mr McLoughlin]

The planning procedures will necessarily have to be gone through and the hon. Gentleman will have seen the details set out in the road investment plans and strategies that accompany today’s statement. I pay tribute to him and my hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Andrew Bingham) for working together on this important matter and will check the wider implications for Mottram and Tintwistle.

High-speed Rail

Debate between Jonathan Reynolds and Lord McLoughlin

Monday 24th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

I am always ready to listen to my hon. Friend’s comments and points on these matters. I believe that, overall, HS2 will bring great benefit to the midlands, including Birmingham, which is an important city close to his own city of Lichfield. It is a matter of ensuring that areas such as his can also benefit from high-speed rail.

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Higgins report specifically highlights poor east-west connectivity as a problem on the rail network, such as that between Manchester and Leeds, to which I would add that between Manchester and Sheffield, which is directly relevant to Stalybridge and Hyde. Will the Secretary of State go into more detail about how he plans to integrate Network Rail’s existing investment plans with the relevant phase of HS2, specifically to address the east-west connectivity issue?

Transport Infrastructure

Debate between Jonathan Reynolds and Lord McLoughlin

Tuesday 17th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

I am not sure which people in HS2 my hon. Friend is referring to when he says that they are opposed to the current route. We are committed to that route and have deposited the Bill before the House.

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

There is a widespread feeling that the airports issue is symptomatic of this country’s poor approach to long-term infrastructure planning. Clearly there will be winners and losers whichever decision is made, but the truth is that a decision will still need to be made. If we need two runways by 2050, will the Government make a provisional decision on both, thus finally bringing some long-term certainty to this issue?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I am not sure that we will make a decision on both of them in one go. As I say, the report is very clear: we will need an additional runway by 2030 and, in all likelihood, another by 2050. A number of things will have changed by then, so it would be wrong at this stage to start saying exactly what the runway beyond the next runway will be, because the infrastructure I have talked about, such as HS2, will be in place and other airports will come much more into play.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jonathan Reynolds and Lord McLoughlin

Thursday 28th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

Following the well-documented problems with the west coast main line refranchising, a lot of concerns have been raised about Department for Transport decisions that may have left it less able to deal with refranchising as efficiently as we would all like. When will consultation begin on the refranchising of the Northern and Trans- Pennine Express franchises, both of which are extremely important to my constituents?

[Mr McLoughlin]

As was said earlier, I intend to make a statement about franchising in the light of the Brown inquiry findings, and I hope to make that statement soon.

High Speed Rail

Debate between Jonathan Reynolds and Lord McLoughlin

Monday 28th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some time ago.

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

I, too, welcome today’s announcement, and I particularly welcome the news that there will be two stations in Manchester. That makes a great deal of sense in relation to the connectivity that will already exist through the northern hub investment. May I reiterate to the few critics of high-speed rail that the case for this project is based on capacity, not on journey times? If we were to spend the same amount of money on the west coast main line, we would get nothing like the amount of capacity that will be freed up by High Speed 2. That is why this is the right choice for the northern economy.

[Mr McLoughlin]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. This will give faster journey times, and I think that people will welcome that, but one of the overwhelming reasons for High Speed 2 is capacity. It is a fact that no new railway line has been built north of London for 120 years, and it is high time that that was put right. If we are to add to the capacity, it is right that we should take advantage of high-speed trains, which every other country in Europe and all our major competitors have already adopted.