Oral Answers to Questions

Kate Green Excerpts

Thursday 16th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central) (Lab)]

3. What recent assessment he has made of Network Rail’s progress in delivering the rail electrification programme.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

4. What recent assessment he has made of Network Rail’s progress in delivering the rail electrification programme.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Patrick McLoughlin)]

As I said in my statement, important aspects of Network Rail’s investment programme are costing more and taking longer. That is why I have asked Sir Peter Hendy, the new chair of Network Rail, to develop proposals for how the rail upgrade programme will be carried out.

[Mr McLoughlin]

I welcome the hon. Gentleman asking what I think is his first Transport question in the more than two and half years since I became Secretary of State. I am glad that he is taking an interest in the railway that he has not taken before.

The train services in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency are operated by Northern, and we will increase overall capacity between Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield by 36% by the end of 2019, providing an extra 200 services each weekday. We will also increase Northern’s fleet size by 10% in 2015, delivering an additional 87 carriages—all good news for his constituents, and I am sorry that he looks on the negative side.

[Kate Green]

The delay in the electrification of the trans-Pennine line means delay in the release of rolling stock to replace the clapped-out Pacers endured by commuters in my constituency. How long will the pause last, and how long do they have to wait for an improvement in the quality of their journeys?

[Mr McLoughlin]

We have electrified the track between Liverpool and Manchester, replacing the two-car diesel trains with four-car electric trains from April 2015. I would have thought that the hon. Lady would welcome that and, if not, that she would at least welcome the increase in the fleet size of Northern trains by 10% in 2015, delivering an extra 87 carriages. We will double the services between Manchester Victoria and Liverpool, Macclesfield, Chester, Bolton and Stockport by the end of 2017—more has been done to upgrade those sections of rail in the past five years than was achieved in the 13 years her party was in government.