Katie Lam
Main Page: Katie Lam (Conservative - Weald of Kent)Department Debates - View all Katie Lam's debates with the Department for Transport
(1 day, 6 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Simon Lightwood
It is my pleasure to wish my hon. Friend a very merry Christmas. I am pleased to hear about that. We have confirmed £1 billion of funding for buses to support and improve services in 2025-26 and to keep fares affordable.
Katie Lam (Weald of Kent) (Con)
Cross-channel rail was already mentioned this morning. Specifically, trains from Ashford to Paris were a massive boost for my constituents in the Weald of Kent and are much missed. It is fantastic news that Virgin would like to run trains again from Ashford and also from Ebbsfleet, but I know that there are some open questions about how the stations will be updated. It would be great to hear about any conversations that the right hon. Lady might have had with Virgin regarding what might need to happen next to move this forward.
Heidi Alexander
As I said to my hon. Friend the Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Mr Bailey), there are a whole number of steps subsequent to the ORR decision, which we welcomed. We are keen to see the stations at both Ashford and Ebbsfleet reopened, and I will be talking to all operators that are interested in making that a reality.