Avanti West Coast

Justin Tomlinson Excerpts
Wednesday 7th September 2022

(1 year, 7 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Trudy Harrison Portrait Trudy Harrison
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Of course we will look at all the evidence. One service an hour from London Euston to Manchester is completely unacceptable. I agree with that; I think that everybody agrees with that.

Justin Tomlinson Portrait Justin Tomlinson (North Swindon) (Con)
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My hon. Friend the Member for City of Chester (Christian Matheson) and I are due to meet the rail Minister next week to discuss the Chester to London line, so I hope whoever the new rail Minister is will honour that meeting. We have been asking for a meeting for six months, during which time the service has gone from terrible to non-existent. When I asked the previous rail Minister why in those circumstances Avanti would be granted a new contract, I was told that it was important to do so to ensure value for taxpayers and continuity of services for passengers. The question to the Minister is: how can we have continuity of services when we do not have any services?

Trudy Harrison Portrait Trudy Harrison
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I will ensure that that meeting goes ahead as planned.