Transport Infrastructure

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Tuesday 17th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

If the hon. Gentleman takes time to reflect and to look at the various appointments to the commission, he will see that we have taken incredibly seriously the environment and our environmental commitments.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

I invite my right hon. Friend to expand a little on the role of regional airports. Will he give an assurance that the Government will recognise the important role that smaller regional airports can play, not just in easing the burden on traffic to the south-east but in providing economic growth to areas such as the Humber region?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I cannot add very much to what I have said already. I agree with my hon. Friend, but it is difficult for some regional airports to attract new services. That is one of the big changes that we have seen as far as the aviation industry is concerned, and I am keen to do anything I can to encourage those regional airports to be able to provide more services.

Aviation Strategy

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Thursday 24th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

I suppose it was inevitable that the debate would be dominated by London and the south-east, but I remind the House that the northern economy is very dependent on improved communications, including better air services. I shall concentrate on the role of regional airports and, from a constituency point of view, Humberside airport, in economic regeneration and development locally.

First, as a member of the Transport Committee, I should put my cards on the table about Heathrow. I was not a member when the Committee conducted the inquiry prior to the report, but I broadly agree with its recommendations. The Chair of the Committee might be somewhat reassured by that.

The Humberside area has been designated and recognised by the Government as a potential area for major economic development. To give a couple of examples, they have shown their support for the area by halving Humber bridge tolls and creating the largest enterprise zone in the country. Only a month ago, the Prime Minister highlighted the area in his party conference speech.

We need better services in the area. Whatever happens in London and the south-east, getting them will be a long job. All hon. Members recognise that, and Governments make a habit of kicking it into touch. That point has been made clearly. Regional airports have a role to play in that respect. The Minister has been to Humberside more than once, and will know that Humberside airport would be ideally located if only there were better connectivity between the various modes of transport. A railway line runs within a quarter of a mile of the airport terminal, but there is no air-train connection. That is worthy of consideration—I have made that point regularly to the local enterprise partnership, local authorities and the like.

In the minute I have left, I should like to talk about the impact of air passenger duty, which is particularly relevant to regional airports. I have a note from Paul Litten, the commercial director at Humberside airport. He recognises that the tax is required, but says that

“it would be better to encourage airlines to move to smaller regional airports and take advantage of space, flexibility and customer demand but having a much lower APD amount for”

such airports. He says that

“if you use the logic of the congestion charge in London, then where there is a large demand, you should continue to tax; but apply a lower rate to those areas that need development.”

In other words, he says we need a smaller tax for regional airports. Finally, he says:

“Let me know if this makes sense.”

It makes sense to me, so perhaps the Minister could tell us in his reply to the debate whether it makes sense to the Government.

High Speed Rail (Preparation) Bill

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Wednesday 26th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

I rise to support the Bill. I am in favour of expanding our high-speed rail network. I respect hon. Members who represent constituencies that will be directly affected, and it is right that they fight for the best interests of their constituents. I have the advantage of representing a constituency that is in no way affected. Even the increased capacity, which is the prime motive for the development of a new network, will be of minimal benefit.

[Andrew Bridgen]

My hon. Friend says that his constituency will be in no way affected. Unfortunately, it will be, because his constituents—this is true of every constituency—will initially receive a bill for £75 million, rising to a possible £100 million.

[Martin Vickers]

My hon. Friend makes a fair point, but similar points could be made about every item of Government expenditure. Ultimately, the increased capacity will benefit the more provincial towns and peripheral areas of our country. The network is operating to capacity. We heard from the Secretary of State that the west coast main line would be at capacity in the early 2020s, and similarly the east coast main line, which has an impact on my constituency, will soon be full.

People have talked about blight, but speed is essential. Yes, there can be blight on individual properties and so on, but if that is to be the case, the sooner we get a decision on routes, compensation and so on, the better. Speed is also essential for the economy. We have heard, quite understandably, that connectivity is important to the development of our towns and cities, and that has been proved by countless reports over time. If Hudson and the other Victorian rail moguls had had to operate to timetables as stretched as that for HS2, I doubt whether the network would have developed to anything like the extent it did and from which this country benefited in the late-19th and 20th centuries.

The Minister has just scuttled out of the Chamber. Perhaps he suspected that I was about to mention that increased capacity would allow additional services to Cleethorpes and elsewhere—but that is for the future. If we are to rebalance the economy to the benefit of the north of England, it is important that we have this increased capacity and connectivity. I can understand the arguments against it. The cost is phenomenal, and, as my hon. Friend the Member for North West Leicestershire (Andrew Bridgen) pointed out, my constituents will have to bear some of that cost. [Interruption.] Does my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton South (Mr Binley) wish to intervene?

[Mr Binley]

indicated dissent.

[Martin Vickers]

No. Sorry, he looked, er—[Hon. Members: “Keep going!”] I’ll keep going, right. I think what he, er—I’ve lost my track now, I should say.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)]

You’ve lost your train of thought.

[Martin Vickers]

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I will try to get back on line.

I am very supportive of where the Government are going with this. I was talking about rebalancing the economy. The economy of my own area in northern Lincolnshire is highly dependent on rail. We talked about the importance of freight earlier. Some 25% of freight tonnage moved throughout the country starts or ends in my constituency at Immingham, so I hope that the increased capacity will provide greater opportunities not only for passengers, but for freight. I therefore support the Government and, sadly, will oppose the amendment.

East Coast Main Line

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Wednesday 5th June 2013 Westminster Hall

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr McCrea. I congratulate the hon. Member for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald) on securing this useful debate. We can sing the praises of East Coast—I am happy to do so as someone who uses its services every week; it does not provide a bad service at all—but the idea that this is some way towards being a golden age compared with GNER, which first took over the line and provided an excellent service, is a myth.

As I have said, I am happy to congratulate East Coast, which gets us here every week, usually on time. Passengers want a clean, reliable, safe and reasonably priced service. When they sit back in their seat, they do not care whether the track is operated by Railtrack, Network Rail or a private operator, or whether their seat is in a private coach or a publicly owned one.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

To set the record straight, is it not the case that both GNER and National Express had to hand back the franchise, but this nationalised, directly operated rail service has handed £602 million back to the Treasury?

[Martin Vickers]

The fact that there is one failure—whether in the private sector, the public sector or wherever—does not automatically indicate a flaw in the system. The hon. Member for Jarrow (Mr Hepburn) said that the change would be privatisation for privatisation’s sake, but the opposite is equally true: do we want nationalisation for nationalisation’s sake? That is certainly what Opposition Members seem to want.

In his opening remarks, the hon. Member for Middlesbrough referred to Northern Rail, but to compare it with East Coast is to compare apples with oranges—a regional operator with an inter-city one. Northern Rail provides a perfectly adequate service in my constituency, between Cleethorpes and Barton-on-Humber, but it does not serve such great metropolises as York, Darlington and Doncaster. The station at Thornton Abbey—in a beautiful, idyllic setting—actually serves two farms and an ancient ruin, and I think it had 13 passengers during 2009. East Coast is fine; it provides a perfectly adequate service, but it does not dash up and down between Newcastle and King’s Cross, so there is no comparison whatever.

I am happy to criticise East Coast when it makes mistakes, which it did when it redesigned its timetable last year.

[Stephen Phillips]

On the timetable, does my hon. Friend agree that although the increased frequency and number of trains is welcome, the lack of joined-up thinking between those trains and local ones has caused constituents real problems that East Coast needs to deal with? If the line is retendered, the Minister must ensure that that factor is included in the tendering process, as I hope my hon. Friend agrees.

[Martin Vickers]

I welcome that intervention by my hon. and learned Friend, who highlights a particular problem. My point is that the station in my home town of Cleethorpes has been removed from the timetable—because there is no through train to it, it is no longer shown as having a connecting service. I think that Middlesbrough was another destination that was removed from the timetable. Regrettably, despite my protests, East Coast did not correct that in its new summer timetable.

The Government show every sign of moving ahead with the new franchise to a good timetable, which I welcome. I hope that the company will put in place services that British Rail removed in 1991, namely the direct services from King’s Cross to Cleethorpes, which I know the Minister is keen to restore in the new timetable.

[Karl MᶜCartney]

Does my hon. Friend agree that spending some money on electrifying the line between Newark and Cleethorpes might well give the east coast an option for diverted trains? The west coast has a multitude of such options whereas the east coast does not.

[Martin Vickers]

My hon. Friend raises a valid point. The important thing for the Cleethorpes constituency in relation to electrifying the line is that 25% of the country’s rail freight, when measured by tonnage, starts or ends at Immingham dock. The line must therefore be a potential candidate for electrification.

The hon. Member for Middlesbrough used, as I suspect all politicians do occasionally, selective statistics, especially ones that were critical of private operations. For example, he omitted the statistic that showed that the west coast main line, in private operation, generates more passenger income than the east coast main line— £820 million in 2011-12 compared with £587 million on the east coast main line.

I hope that the Minister will confirm that we are going ahead with the new franchise, that we are on course to deliver it and that the new franchise will deliver a better service than the existing east coast main line, which is, to be honest, just treading water at the moment. I know that the Minister will also want to ensure that there is a service to Cleethorpes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Thursday 25th April 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Burns]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising a valid and interesting point. He is absolutely right that that will have to be looked at. Fortunately, we have time on our side. I can assure him that between now and when High Speed 2 begins operating on phase 2 in 2032-33, this will be looked into fully in order to avoid the very problems he identifies.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

As well as connections to York and the north-east in the new franchise, it is equally important that areas such as Grimsby and Cleethorpes are served in order to aid economic regeneration. Can the Minister assure me that he will give serious consideration to a direct service to that area in the new franchise?

[Mr Burns]

I seek to give my hon. Friend a partial reassurance, because I cannot prejudge at this stage in proceedings what might be in any franchise document, but I can say that there will be full consultations with relevant stakeholders and others before the document is finally put together so that all the issues, desires and wish lists can be fully considered.

Rail Franchising

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Tuesday 26th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

As for where the headquarters will be, that will depend on the case that is put forward by the various companies that I hope will compete for the franchise. The hon. Gentleman is right: two franchises collapsed under the previous Government, so that and this Government have both had some problems with franchising. I hope we have learnt our lessons. The rail industry has become a lot better at competing for these franchises.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

The Secretary of State rightly spoke of the innovation and ambition that he expects from the new franchise companies. Can he assure me that that innovation and ambition will extend to providing services off the east coast main line, most notably to Cleethorpes?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I am certainly willing to discuss in greater detail with my hon. Friend the services to his constituency, which I know have been very badly disrupted because of earth movements, which must be put right; the work is taking longer than we would have hoped.

Rail Disruption (Cleethorpes and Doncaster)

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Wednesday 20th March 2013 Westminster Hall

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

As always, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Main.

The reason why I asked for this debate is the closure of the main rail line out of my constituency—the line from Cleethorpes to Doncaster, Sheffield and on to Manchester—as the result of a landslip at Hatfield, between Scunthorpe and Doncaster, early last month. I welcome the Minister to his place and thank him for the help that he and his colleagues in the Department have given to date, through the influence that they have brought to bear.

I should set the scene by pointing out that the main Cleethorpes to Manchester line is the main route out of Cleethorpes and, importantly for the tourist trade, it is the main route into Cleethorpes—[Interruption.] It is the premier resort of the east coast, as my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy) reminds me. The alternatives are less than adequate, it has to be said. There are three lines out of Barnetby, the junction about 15 miles west of Cleethorpes, all of which go to Doncaster, Sheffield and Manchester, but the line through my hon. Friend’s constituency—through Brigg, Kirton Lindsey and Gainsborough to Sheffield—is, in part, a single track and passenger services are provided only on Saturdays. There is an alternative route to the east coast main line, with a connection at Newark, via Lincoln, but the service on that route is intermittent to say the least, and it is not a reasonable alternative.

The main operator on the Cleethorpes to Manchester line is First TransPennine. I have to say that it provides an excellent service and has done an excellent job in recent years to build up the patronage on that service. Of course, First TransPennine is also suffering, although there are compensation arrangements such as from Network Rail. As it pointed out in an e-mail to me, it is losing 25% to 30% of its customers from Grimsby and Cleethorpes, which equates to 2,500 a week. Clearly, many of those people might be permanently lost to First TransPennine.

Those people who wanted to come to Cleethorpes at Easter and into the summer season, for a day or a few days in the resort, will be completely lost to the tourist trade. The inconvenience is not only to individual travellers, including Members of Parliament I have to say, but more importantly to people accessing leisure services. It has a real impact on the local economy, and that is particularly relevant with the approach of the Easter weekend, which is the traditional start of the tourist season.

I met Network Rail and First TransPennine on Friday, and I acknowledge the difficulties that they face. The first priority is to get the line clear and to get at least a limited service up and running. At a conservative estimate, that will take another 12 to 16 weeks. As Network Rail pointed out to me, there are still considerable unknowns. I understand that Network Rail needs only three to four weeks to replace the track, but it does not yet have access to the track, because it has to move the slag heap that caused the slip and ensure that it is safe for the workmen.

I have already mentioned alternative routes. I accept that one priority must be getting freight from Immingham docks to the power stations. In the main, that uses the alternative Brigg and Gainsborough line, but there is some limited access and First TransPennine is training its drivers with the necessary route knowledge to run on that line. That is proving difficult, but I understand that it is ongoing, although it will take six weeks. First TransPennine is halfway through that process, so there is hope that a skeleton service might be provided on that line by mid to late April. As I have mentioned, Northern Rail operates a Saturday-only service. It would surely not be beyond the wit of man to use those particular slots, at least on Saturdays, and those available on Sundays, when there is less freight traffic, to provide direct services. At least getting people there for the weekend would be a boost to the tourist trade.

It is worth pointing out that one of the alternatives is the East Midlands route via Newark, which, as I have said, is an intermittent service. It is one of the faults of the present franchising system that there does not seem to be an incentive for East Midlands to take advantage of the lack of trains on the other route by providing additional trains. I recognise that, as I know from correspondence about its normal daily services, there are problems. Anyone who has travelled on peak-hour services—most noticeably, for example, the 17.23 from Lincoln, via Market Rasen, through to Grimsby—will know that the rolling stock is totally inadequate, being provided by a single unit. East Midlands readily says—I have quite a bit of correspondence about this—that the rolling stock is simply not available. Clearly, if rolling stock is not available to provide existing services, there is very little scope for it to provide additional services.

Through First TransPennine, I have asked whether East Coast, which provides most east coast main line services, would consider deregulating some of the ticket restrictions that currently operate, at least to allow people to leave London and get back to Cleethorpes by train, by changing at Newark. In the evening, that unfortunately means having to leave before the 7 pm cut-off at which cheaper tickets begin. East Coast told First TransPennine that it was not prepared, in more or less any circumstances, to do that. I subsequently wrote to East Coast, but, sadly, it has not as yet bothered to reply. It does not seem unreasonable to request that, for the 18.03 from King’s Cross to Newark, which has a good connection through to Grimsby—not to Cleethorpes, unfortunately, but at least people can get to Grimsby—it could provide a derestriction to allow passengers to Barnetby, Habrough and Grimsby to use that service.

The main concern now is clearly to get services up and running, but I think questions need to be asked, although the Minister does not have direct responsibility for most such areas.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman, who is my parliamentary neighbour, on securing this important debate about a significant event in our part of the world. Does he agree that, at the same time as addressing the issues that he quite properly raises, Network Rail has an opportunity to look at bringing forward its upgrades to the line? My constituents in Scunthorpe, who are being significantly disadvantaged, would then get a future advantage through improvements to the railway.

--- Later in debate ---

[Martin Vickers]

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. At our meeting on Monday, Network Rail told me that it intends to schedule some of the works on other parts of the line while it is closed, which is obviously a sensible move. There is therefore some hope in that respect.

I want to move on to the actual incident, why it happened and who, if anyone, was responsible. The slippage of the slag heap may have simply been the result of movement in the earth—one of those terrible things that, although it blocked a railway line, thankfully did not cause any loss of life. However, I know from Network Rail that it has had discussions with the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive and the mines inspectorate. I am in the process of corresponding with those agencies to see what their response is. It is worth mentioning in this debate—I hope the Minister will convey this to other Departments—who, if anyone, is responsible for monitoring the safety of the slag heaps. Agencies such as the HSE moved in after the event, but was anyone other than the operator of the site responsible? The operator, which was Hargreaves Services, only owned 10% of the operation; the rest was owned by foreign investors. Do the HSE, the Environment Agency and the mines inspectorate have responsibility—

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Mr Simon Burns)]

If it helps, it is the HSE.

[Martin Vickers]

I thank the Minister for that and I look forward to hearing from the agency. It is important that it is able to confirm what, if any, responsibility it had before the incident and whether it discharged those responsibilities in the proper manner. I do not want to indulge in scare stories, but a train could have been on that section of track when the incident took place. I hope that the matter is taken extremely seriously.

[Andrew Percy (Brigg and Goole) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. He has made a fantastic case for all our constituents and commuters on the south bank of the Humber, but my constituency will experience a double whammy in that the Hull, Goole and Doncaster line is also affected. I had to use the bus replacement this week. [Interruption.] Will my hon. Friend confirm that there is a risk of a triple whammy coming our way, because there will be closures on the Hull, Selby and Doncaster line in a few weeks, and we need an assurance from the Minister that that will not be allowed to happen until the works have been completed?

[Martin Vickers]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point. I know that both his constituency and other constituencies on the north bank of the Humber are extremely concerned that they may be effectively cut off from the rail network.

[Nic Dakin]

The hon. Gentleman has said a lot about passenger services, but he will know that 20% of the freight coming into the UK goes through Immingham. Will he say something about the impact on freight services?

[Martin Vickers]

The hon. Gentleman is quite right. In fact, it is more than 20%; 25% of freight tonnage moved by rail starts or ends in Immingham. It is a vital hub, especially for the movement of coal to power stations.

I understand from the train operators and Network Rail that they are able to manage the freight operations using alternative routes, but it is a particular concern, and the hon. Gentleman is right to mention it. His own constituency, which encompasses Scunthorpe and the steel works, is a vital part of that freight network.

In conclusion, will the Minister address my key points in relation to alternative TransPennine routes via Brigg or Lincoln, and an improved rail service on East Midlands Trains, perhaps with some joint working with TransPennine? I presume there are surplus units at the moment that we might be able to use.

The Minister will know that my neighbouring colleagues and I are pushing hard for a direct rail service between Grimsby, Cleethorpes and London. At the moment, there is an East Midlands train that goes from Lincoln to King’s Cross in the morning and King’s Cross to Lincoln in the evening. It would be a golden opportunity to test the market for a future service if that route could be extended to Cleethorpes for a short time. Let us see some entrepreneurial activity by East Midlands Trains pushed on by the famous entrepreneurial Minister. I hope for a positive response in that respect. One final matter for the Minister is the ticketing regulations on the main line, which must be a simple thing to deal with. I look forward to hearing his response.

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Mr Simon Burns)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Main. It is a particular pleasure for me because it is of course the first time that I have had that privilege and honour. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Cleethorpes (Martin Vickers) on an important and pertinent speech concerning the response to the natural disaster that has so adversely affected the railway lines and his constituents, and also the constituents of my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy) and the hon. Member for Scunthorpe (Nic Dakin). I fully appreciate the importance of rail services to people in Cleethorpes, Grimsby and Scunthorpe and the significant inconvenience that the collapse of the spoil heap is causing to people wanting to travel from those towns and others wanting to travel to them.

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Cleethorpes on the efforts that he has taken with meetings and lobbying to secure the best services for his constituents in respect of the disruption. I welcome the work that the industry has done to mitigate the disruption caused to both passengers and freight operators following the incident, which, as all hon. Members will accept, is beyond the control of the railway.

First TransPennine Express operates an hourly service from Cleethorpes to Manchester airport via Scunthorpe, Doncaster and Sheffield. Northern Rail provides local services between Doncaster and Scunthorpe and between Doncaster and Goole. The collapse of a spoil heap at Hatfield colliery, which was initially noted on 9 February, destroyed the adjacent railway line that links Doncaster with Scunthorpe and Goole. The subsidence did not cease until the end of February, which has compounded the problem. The collapse was not just a one-off incident on 9 February; it continued for almost another three weeks, resulting in a clear-up problem of enormous size and magnitude.

On 15 March, Network Rail advised that clearance of the spoil had commenced. However, it now anticipates that the reinstatement of the railway will be in early July rather than in June, as it had previously advised. Network Rail hopes that there is no further slippage and that it will continue to make progress to achieving restoration. Network Rail cautions that any date is subject to revision in the light of uncovering further problems as the work progresses, or the recurrence of movement in the spoil heap.

Train services have been replaced by buses. Buses between Scunthorpe and Doncaster are running every 30 minutes. Additional buses serving local stations are operating each hour. Northern Rail is providing limited stop buses and rail replacement buses serving all stations between Doncaster and Goole. Northern Rail express trains linking Sheffield, Doncaster, Hull and Bridlington have been re-routed via the east coast main line and Selby.

Northern continues to provide three trains between Sheffield and Cleethorpes via Brigg on Saturdays as required by its franchise agreement. Those services offer people the opportunity of a day out in Cleethorpes, and therefore are maintaining a direct rail service in support of the local tourism industry in Cleethorpes. East Midlands Trains provides seven trains on weekdays between Grimsby Town and Newark North Gate. Those trains connect with East Coast trains for passengers travelling to London. To extend the existing service to Cleethorpes would require additional resources, including additional rolling stock, as my hon. Friend the Member for Cleethorpes mentioned in his remarks. It would be for EMT to determine the business case for sourcing any additional rolling stock. I know that EMT has increased the capacity on trains between Grimsby and Newark North Gate on Saturdays, when it has rolling stock available to do so, so as to meet this short-term problem.

As my hon. Friend is also aware, management responsibility for the removal of the spoil falls to the colliery operators, Hargreaves. Network Rail is responsible for rebuilding the railway once the spoil has been removed. During the period that the railway is closed for reconstruction, Network Rail is investigating options for bringing forward investment work that is due in 2014. The removal of lineside vegetation has already commenced. Further options for expediting future improvements are also being considered. This may help to reduce the number of times that engineering work causes future disruption to passengers.

As my hon. Friend mentioned, it is estimated that it will take between 16 and 18 weeks to reopen the railway. Around 1 million cubic metres of spoil will have to be removed before Network Rail can commence reconstruction. Work has started to remove the considerable amount of spoil and to restore the railway, and I welcome the considerable effort that Network Rail and others are making to expedite the task. Network Rail’s mining team is carrying out a review of other sites around the network with built spoil heaps, and no cause for concern has been identified.

My hon. Friend mentioned Selby swing bridge; I think that my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole also mentioned it. The bridge is due for renewal between 28 July and 9 September. Network Rail is currently planning that the investment in that historic bridge will go ahead as scheduled. In the event that the work at Stainforth is still under way, that will limit the diversionary routes available to passenger services. Network Rail is working with the train operators to identify alternative arrangements if they are required.

On the question of Immingham port, which is in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Cleethorpes, he knows as well as I do that it is one of the busiest ports in the country, and both he and the hon. Member for Scunthorpe mentioned it in their contributions. It receives 55 million tonnes of freight annually, including around 20 million tonnes of oil and 10 million tonnes of coal. These considerable fuel supplies are sent by rail, there being more than 250 rail movements at Immingham each week. Coal trains run from Immingham to power stations in the midlands, including West Burton and Ratcliffe power stations, and to Eggborough power station in North Yorkshire. Immingham also supports the UK economy in landing container traffic, animal feed and forestry products.

It has been suggested that passenger trains be rerouted via the Brigg line. Following the loss of the railway via Scunthorpe, Network Rail has rerouted a considerable number of freight trains via Brigg and via Lincoln. Given its strategic importance, Network Rail rebuilt sections of the Brigg line for freight traffic in 2009. The line is currently being used by around 120 freight trains a day, rather than the usual number.

To maintain fuel supplies and other deliveries, freight trains are now running every few minutes in both directions throughout the day along the 12 miles of single track between Gainsborough Central and Kirton Lindsey, and along a further single line between Brigg and Wrawby Junction. Although there are no immediate plans, or ability, to run passenger trains via Brigg, it is for First TransPennine Express and Northern Rail to work with Network Rail to assess whether there are any available train paths for passenger trains via that route, or whether amendments to the times of freight trains might be possible in the future. I certainly urge my hon. Friend, in the light of what I have just said, to go back to the companies and suggest that they contact Network Rail again to discover if there are any opportunities along those lines that might help—up to a point—in alleviating part of the problem that his constituents are facing at the moment. However, I also advise him that operating passenger trains via the Brigg line does not benefit passengers travelling from Cleethorpes and Grimsby to Scunthorpe and Doncaster as it does not serve either place. There are also fewer connection opportunities at Retford.

Around 15% of passengers from Cleethorpes and Grimsby travel to Scunthorpe and Doncaster—more than travel from Cleethorpes to London. Noting previous comments by my hon. Friend, it would be for East Coast to assess any options there may be for extending its Lincoln to London services to serve Grimsby and Cleethorpes. To do so, East Coast would require time to amend train diagrams and crew rosters. It would also have to follow industry processes to assess whether the trains used are suitable to run east of Lincoln. If this were achieved, East Coast would then have to release members of its train crew from other duties to learn the route between Lincoln and Cleethorpes.

I appreciate the concern that my hon. Friend has expressed about the disruption to rail services in Lincolnshire and the knock-on effect in South Yorkshire, which have been caused by the collapse of the spoil heap near Hatfield and Stainforth. I welcome the efforts that the rail industry has made to reduce disruption to passengers and freight traffic, including advising passengers of changes to train services and taking an opportunity to bring forward maintenance work where that is possible.

However, I also appreciate the impatience of my hon. Friends the Members for Cleethorpes and for Brigg and Goole, and of the hon. Member for Scunthorpe, to have the very best for their constituents. The problem facing us all is that this slippage was an act of God, so to speak, and because of the sheer scale of the slippage the problem cannot be solved overnight, despite everyone’s best intentions to find a solution as quickly as possible. That does not help the hon. Members’ constituents, because obviously they want the service restored as quickly as possible, but I know that their constituents are reasonable people and that they appreciate that we cannot solve a problem of this scale overnight, or with the click of a button. Nevertheless, I hope that they are reassured by the considerable amount of work that has been done and that is still being done, not least by my hon. Friends and the hon. Gentleman in the way that they have engaged with the rail companies and Network Rail to try to limit any potential delays, and in their exploration of all possible avenues to try to find a solution that minimises the disruption to their constituents at the present time.

In conclusion, I can only say—

[Martin Vickers]

Will the Minister give way?

[Mr Burns]

I will give way very briefly, because I am almost out of time.

[Martin Vickers]

I thank the Minister for his response, and I appreciate the work that Network Rail and the operating companies are doing. May I just ask him to see if he could pass on to East Coast my comments about the issue of ending the restrictions on its tickets?

[Mr Burns]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention. I certainly listened very carefully to what he said. As he will appreciate, the rules and regulations governing tickets are a matter for the train operators, but it would give me considerable pleasure to get in touch with them and draw to their attention the comments that he has made during this debate, and I will ask them if they will look at this issue to see if there is some way, and some flexibility, that might help to make life easier for some of his constituents, and for some of the constituents of my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole and of the hon. Member for Scunthorpe.

Before I sit down, I can say that no one is more anxious than I or my hon. Friends the Members for Cleethorpes and for Brigg and Goole and the hon. Member for Scunthorpe to see this matter resolved as quickly as possible, so that normal, effective, efficient services can be restored to the local communities that all three hon. Members represent so well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Thursday 28th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Burns]

However charming the hon. Gentleman is, I am afraid that he is not going to tease out of me in advance what my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will announce on future timetabling in the spring this year. That would be completely inappropriate, and I know the hon. Gentleman, an experienced parliamentarian, will fully understand that.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

I welcome the plans for the new franchise on the east coast main line and hope that they will include the reinstatement of the direct service between King’s Cross and Cleethorpes. Ministers will be aware, however, that the biggest problem facing my constituents at the moment is gaining access to any service on the east coast main line due to the landslip between Scunthorpe and Doncaster. First TransPennine is looking at alternative routes for its service to Manchester, but access to London and the south is extremely difficult. Will Ministers use their influence to ensure that East Midlands Trains improves its service to Newark North Gate in the interim?

[Mr Burns]

I fully appreciate the problems that my hon. Friend’s and other hon. Members’ constituents face due to this unfortunate act of nature. As my hon. Friend will be aware, all is being done by all the relevant authorities and train operators to seek to minimise the disruption to passengers during this difficult time and to expedite the repair and restoration of the track. I fear that it is going to take some time because of the sheer scale of the problem. I fully take on board my hon. Friend’s point and will pass his comments to Network Rail and the rail operators to see what more can possibly be done to try to alleviate the problems.

Humber Bridge Bill

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Tuesday 26th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to speak in the debate. It has been a long time coming in many ways and I thank the Minister for his résumé and for his efforts. I also thank the former Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening), who, right from the start, saw the area’s potential and the impact the bridge tolls were having on the local economy. Like my colleagues, I thank them for that. As the right hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle (Alan Johnson) said, we build bridges to unite people. We did not quite succeed in that respect, but we have now shown that united action by politicians of all colours on both sides of the river can achieve something. I hope that we will push forward with other enterprises for the Humber. It is a great economic area with fantastic potential, and I am sure that the Bill will seal the deal.

My hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy) said that I was eight or nine when the original Humber Bridge Bill was first introduced. Sadly, that is the case. I am also one of the campaigners of longest standing. I was looking it up; in 1986 I spoke in a debate in the former Grimsby borough council to demand abolition of, or a reduction in, the tolls.

What has been said of the business potential of the local economy is particularly important. My area, especially around Immingham docks, is a major centre for the haulage industry and it has greatly benefited from the changes. But in many ways it is the personal cases that emphasise the point. People on the south bank have to travel to Hull for cancer treatment and treatment for other serious illnesses, and the tolls have been a particular burden on the families of many people whom I represent and those in neighbouring constituencies. Unless we get this Bill on the books, the board cannot reduce the tolls for those seeking treatment, and it is important that we get it as soon as possible.

[Andrew Percy]

My hon. Friend has reminded me of Humber Action Against Tolls and in particular Jenny Walton, who has struggled with a terrible illness and has been on the receiving end of the high tolls. She should get a lot of credit for the work she has done.

[Martin Vickers]

My hon. Friend has stolen my words. I was going to mention Jenny and the great work that she has done.

Some colleagues may express fears about the powers of the board. They need to remember that four out of six members of the board will now, in effect, be directly elected and accountable to their local communities, and that will be a restraint. Only if you live in the area do you appreciate how big an issue this is locally. Public opinion will ensure that the board drives tolls down to their absolute minimum not only in the foreseeable future but beyond that. It has already announced that it can maintain tolls at the present level for another three years.

[Philip Davies]

As my hon. Friend may know, I used to live in the area, in the constituency of my right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Mr Davis). My hon. Friend spoke about the concerns about and the opportunities presented by reducing the cost for people who have certain medical conditions. Does he feel that it would be worth putting any of those things in the Bill so that they are not left to the discretion of the board members, so that we can guarantee the outcome that he seeks—reductions for patients and control of future price rises?

[Martin Vickers]

I can see why my hon. Friend would consider that desirable, but if we start listing illnesses that qualify for exemption from the toll, we will discriminate against other perhaps lesser known illnesses. It is easy to say that we will exempt cancer patients, but what about others with equally serious diseases? It would be wrong, and it is surely for local people to determine these things.

One important part of Cleethorpes is the tourist trade. We have already seen the tourism industry pull together with some initiatives to attract people across the bridge such as “With entry into Pleasure Island you get your toll back.” It has clearly been a boost for the local economy, which is desperately needed in an area of high unemployment where growth is the key to the future. I urge colleagues to give the Bill a Second Reading and support it throughout its various stages.

--- Later in debate ---

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

I commend all my colleagues on both sides of the House from east Yorkshire and north Lincolnshire for their efforts in coming together to get the Bill to this stage. Clearly, they all work together well. I also congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Mr Chope) on making sure that we can have a debate about these matters.

People may ask what this has to do with the people in Shipley. Well, people in Shipley use the Humber bridge too. On their many visits to east Yorkshire and north Lincolnshire they are expected to cough up when they go over the Humber bridge, just as much as anybody in east Yorkshire is expected to cough up when they go over it, so of course we all have an interest. As I made clear in an earlier intervention, I lived for a number of years in Haltemprice and Howden and at that time was a regular user of the Humber bridge. I am delighted with what the Government have done in reducing the cost for people using the bridge, which will be warmly welcomed in that part of the world. I am all for reducing taxes and costs.

I have no objection to the Bill. It is a good rule of thumb that if it is good enough for my hon. Friends the Members for Cleethorpes (Martin Vickers) and for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy), it is good enough for me. But like my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch, I would not want the Bill to have any unintended consequences. I think that it is incumbent on us to point out any problems we think there might be with the Bill, and then it is ultimately for its promoters to decide whether they want to take heed of that view or ignore it. If they have considered it, do not have a problem and want to ignore it, that is fine by me, but I think that it would be remiss of us not to flag up some issues so that people can take them away to consider.

I do not want to go through the whole Bill and so will focus my remarks on the two main considerations that I think might impact upon, and potentially upset, local residents. One relates to the bridge toll. It seems slightly bizarre to me that after the Government have reduced the charge for crossing the bridge, which I think we all approve of, we might be about to allow other people effectively to overturn that reduction in the not-too-distant future and start putting up charges.

My hon. Friend the Member for Cleethorpes indicated that he thought that the matter should be decided locally, and that because those people would all be elected locally, they faced the prospect of being voted out if they put the fees up and it proved unpopular. But that is not necessarily how I read the Bill. If the members of the Humber Bridge Board were directly elected, there would be some merit in his argument, because they could be directly elected on the basis of their record on the board—but that, of course, is not how it works.

Schedule 1 makes it clear that the board members will not be directly elected at all; they will, in effect, be appointed by the various local authorities. They might well be elected councillors in their particular field, but when they come up for re-election to Hull city council, North Lincolnshire council or the East Riding of Yorkshire council, they will not simply be voted in for their particular ward based on their track record on the Humber Bridge Board. They might represent a ward in which there are not many people who use the bridge, so it might not be a big consideration when they come up for re-election. They will face re-election based on their track record of working hard in the local ward and on the other work they do on the local council.

Therefore, I do not see that there will be direct elected legitimacy, as my hon. Friend the Member for Cleethorpes would have us believe, based on how he responded to my earlier intervention. I still fear that people will be able to use their position on the board to vote through toll increases that are unpopular with the local community but will not face the sanction that he would like them to face at a subsequent election.

[Martin Vickers]

My hon. Friend is making a perfectly good argument for having more directly elected officials and politicians, and in principle I am very much in favour of that, but the reality, of course, is that he could apply the same argument to the role of Government Ministers, who are not directly elected. It is just an impossible situation. As I said in my contribution, the key is that four of the six board members are elected. Because of the importance of the issue in the locality, I can assure him that it would be very foolish of the board members to act irresponsibly in any way when it comes to toll increases.

[Philip Davies]

I take my hon. Friend’s point, and he might be satisfied that there will be sufficient accountability. I merely wanted to flag up the fact that people might want to consider some additional safeguards in the Bill to prevent tolls from reaching levels that would be unacceptable to the local community. I know that that is not his intention or, as far as I can see, that of any Members from Humberside—an awful term that I object to greatly. I do not think that it is the intention of anyone from either side of the Humber to see fees go up. I do not think that anyone supporting the Bill wants to see that. My concern is that that might be an unintended consequence of the Bill without additional safeguards.

Oral Answers to Questions

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Thursday 17th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Hammond]

I am sorry—co-chairman of the group. I look forward to seeing its report, which I am sure will cover a number of those issues. He will be aware that we have committed a local sustainable transport fund of £650 million, and a number of the schemes being developed under that have exactly the cycling element that he is asking for.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s recent announcement on the improvement of the A160 into Immingham docks. The next part of the network that needs improving to provide access to the Humber bank ports and industrial areas is the A15 between Lincoln and Scunthorpe, which is in urgent need of dualling. Will my hon. Friend agree to meet a delegation of Members from the appropriate constituencies to discuss the matter?

[Stephen Hammond]

I would be delighted to accept my hon. Friend’s request. I have been meeting a number of Members and groups from their constituencies to discuss the possibility of their qualifying for route-based strategies, and I look forward to talking to him about this matter.