Mark Lazarowicz
Main Page: Mark Lazarowicz (Labour (Co-op) - Edinburgh North and Leith)Department Debates - View all Mark Lazarowicz's debates with the Department for Transport
West Coast Main Line
Mark Lazarowicz Excerpts(12 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr McLoughlin
I had better be a bit careful, or we might get into a bidding auction. There are a number of places to which people want extra services. That shows that the railways are now held in high esteem by all, and it is very much my intention to try to provide the services that people wish for.
Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab/Co-op)
It will be some years before we know the identity of the long-term operator of the west coast main line. How can anyone have any confidence in the bids for the east coast main line franchise when we have no idea of the long-term plans of the long-term operator of its main competitor on the west coast? Is not that why we should keep the east coast main line directly operated for a good few years—preferably indefinitely?
Mr McLoughlin
That is not what the last Secretary of State who sat in the Cabinet for the Labour party said, and it is not what I want to happen.