Great Western Railway Routes

Neil Parish Excerpts

Monday 8th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Anne Marie Morris]

My hon. Friend makes a very fair point. It is this Government, and the former coalition Government, who have begun to look at the south-west and to recognise that we have a motorway, the M5, which ends at Exeter, and that the road infrastructure therefore needs sorting. They recognised, too, that broadband needed sorting, which is not something that the Labour Government did much about. They have also recognised that, frankly, our railway needs resolution.

The gross value added of the south-west is 72% of the national average, and if we could just deal with infrastructure issues, we would open up the opportunity and really deliver on the potential by raising the productivity of our area as a whole.

Given that so many colleagues have mentioned Dawlish, let me say a few words about it. This was an extraordinary event. It is, I suppose, a truism that after some of the most disastrous events, we sometimes see some of the best things emerge. It is undoubtedly true that what happened in Dawlish on that fateful day shined a light on the challenge. Rather than running away from it, the Government said, “This is something that matters; we are going to spend the money.”

I remember that storm in February 2014. The Government put in £35 million at the time, and I recall constituents telling me, “This can’t be fixed,” while the engineers were saying, “It can’t be done,” yet Network Rail and the Government told me, “It can; it will be; and it will be soon.” In the end, I think it took about six weeks. It was absolutely phenomenal. Having fixed it, they continued to spend another £6 million sorting out some further individual problems.

Clearly, there is more to be done, but if we look at what happened, we find that we had 300 engineers—that wonderful orange army—who worked solidly pretty much round the clock for two months, sorting out our railway. They were ingenious. Despite what the engineers said, they came up with the idea of using 19 sea containers to provide a temporary sea wall. That was quite an innovative idea. The only challenge they had, once it was put in place, was how they were going to remove it. That turned out to be more of a challenge than putting it in place. Yet 6,000 tonnes of concrete and 150 tonnes of steel later, along with the 25,000 tonnes of the cliff being removed, we are now in a good, resilient position for the railway at Dawlish. We have repaired 600 metres of wall and Dawlish station, including the platform, and we have 700 metres of new track.

Still more work is ongoing. The point made about signalling is absolutely right. More signalling repair and restoration is going on, along with more repairs to the sea wall, whose footpath has been repaired. Riviera terrace, which disappeared overnight, has now been rebuilt. As for Dawlish Warren along the coast, the point has been made that there are some natural climate change erosion problems, but work is already going on to deal with them through beach recharge and trying to realign how the natural coastal flow works.

The point of this debate—other than being able to say, “Well done, Government, you sorted out Dawlish; thank you very much”—is to flag up to everyone the need to do more. There is a bigger picture.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Torbay mentioned, the Peninsula Rail Task Force has been one of the key drivers. It was established to look at a 20-year plan, and I think that it has the support of everybody in the area. It is a great credit to the area and it shows how strongly we all feel about getting this right. If we can get this right, if that taskforce is allowed to complete its job and if we get that 20-year plan and the Government to commit to investment in the south-west, we could have a GVA uplift of £520 million by improving journey times.

It is fascinating that the potential for this area is so clear. Passenger numbers are many times that of any other area. I think they have gone up by 126% over the decade compared to a national increase of 61%. The tourism potential is already well demonstrated. In 2014, over £1 billion was spent by visitors to the south-west. Believe it or not, in 2013, Saudi and Russian visitors spent more in the south-west than in London.

If those who enjoy travelling using the “Lonely Planet” guides have a look, they will find that the south-west is situated in the league tables as the third best place to visit—ahead of Italy and Denmark. So the potential is there, and there is a win-win—not only for the south-west, but for the Government, because we will get productivity up, which is what the Chancellor wants to see above everything.

The Government have already committed £400 million, and we have had 11 individual reports since the Dawlish events, looking at resilience and reliability, faster journey times and sufficient capacity, and five more reports are coming. No one could honestly say that that did not represent a serious commitment to understanding the problem and then getting it right.

A number of crucial issues need to be addressed. I think every Member agrees that the Dawlish coastal route must be a priority, because unless it is running as a “forever, forever” resilient line, shoring up the whole peninsular network, everything else will begin to become secondary.

I take issue with the challenge from the right hon. Member for Exeter, who, like King Canute, seemed to fear that at some point we would all be washed away. I suggest that we should take account of British scientists, who have been incredibly resilient over the years—as, indeed, were those intrepid passengers who, when the line broke down all that time ago, simply got out of one carriage, climbed over the rocks, and got into another carriage to continue their journey. We are a resilient nation, and that line will survive. It too will be resilient, and it is there for the long term. I am sure that the Government will ensure that that can happen. Nothing is impossible; all that is needed is a little imagination and some intelligence.

The coastal route is crucial, but it is in all our interests to look at the whole area, and the east of Exeter project for resilience is equally important. Bridgwater and Taunton are also crucial, as are Yeovil and Castle Cary. They must be on the must-do list.

[Neil Parish (Tiverton and Honiton) (Con)]

I agree with my hon. Friend that what was done in Dawlish was absolutely right and that we must keep that railway going. However, we must also consider the line from Bristol to Taunton. We need new stations at Wellington and Cullompton, and we need some metro trains as well. My hon. Friend the Member for Taunton Deane (Rebecca Pow) cannot be here today because of ill health, but I know that she would agree. We need to increase resilience. We need to bring more trains down existing tracks; we need more stations; and we need to use our tracks much more effectively.

[Anne Marie Morris]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. At present, we have just one spine going along the south of the peninsula. We need another spine going along the north and opening up the Okehampton line. We also need a network rather like a spider’s web. If we are to take full advantage of what is happening to the economy and if productivity is to increase, we need the smaller stations to which my hon. Friend refers. As was pointed out earlier, stations such as Dawlish should not become secondary branch stations. If that happened it would be a disaster, because our economy is set to grow. We need those two spine routes, but we also need the connectivity—the spider’s web—that will enable all our communities to be successful. For rural communities, travel is mission critical.

Shortening journey times is crucial. I welcome the bimodal rolling stock that we shall have in 2018, but, meanwhile, it would be helpful if the Minister told us a little about any cast-offs that might increase the current number. I agree with what has been said about electrification. I think that bimodal rolling stock is the solution, but, as others have said, we need a plan. We need to know that the Government are committed to dealing with more than just one piece of the south-west. The south-west does not stop at Bristol, although—dare I say?—some people seem to think that it does. We also need to consider the calling patterns, and we must give some thought to capacity and quality. The issue of the additional routes is crucial. I have already mentioned the Okehampton route and the concept of a spider’s web.

Let me now mention some keynote events in the far south-west. A geotechnical study, which is due to begin in April 2016, will look specifically at the Dawlish issue, the Teignmouth cliffs, the sea wall, and whether or not there is a need for a barrage out at sea. I am pleased that the study has gone full steam ahead and has not been subject to any cuts. I hope that the Government will undertake to take its findings seriously and to give us a chance to work and lobby hard to find the right solution. I hope that they will commit themselves to spending the money that we need to sort out our resilience once and for all.

Another key event is the 20-year plan report from the Peninsula Rail Task Force. As has already been said, the plan needs to be properly funded, but we hope that there will be some pre-planning in control period 5. Although control period 6 will not begin until 2016, I think that, once we have the report, the Government should say, “Now that the plan is in place, this is what we can do,” so that we are ready to go. We need the Government to invest during the planning phase. I would love CP6 to happen sooner, but it is realistic to assume that, by the time the planning has been completed, it will be 2018. But a commitment to investing in that planning and to the resolution of the problem would be brilliant.

If we invest in the south-west, our gross value added will increase, our productivity will increase—the Chancellor will be very pleased—security will be improved, and we will unlock the marine potential of the area, which is already worth £410 million in GVA. We will also be able to build on the nuclear potential. Currently, the UK nuclear market, much of which is in our part of the world, is worth £50 billion. We will also be able to take advantage of the aerospace advanced engineering, which is already worth £16 billion in our part of the world, and of new data analytics, which are based primarily in Exeter. The super-computer there gives us a potential income of £97 million in the area.

I will end my speech now, because the Minister has heard enough about me, the lady from Dawlish—[Hon. Members: “No, no! More!”] Let me finally ask you for your commitment to the south-west: a commitment to find the funds that we need, to give us the security that we need and to help us deliver the productivity that the Chancellor wants, that we want and that the country needs.

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[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

Thank, you for calling me in this debate, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I will try very hard to do that. I hope that if I do make a mistake, you might forgive me. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Torbay (Kevin Foster) on securing this debate. Obviously, he has something more important than I have, because I have tried for five years to get a debate on the future of the railway down to the south-west and have always failed; he obviously has something more alluring and has therefore delivered. Also, let me say that I hope I will not get accused of being a fat controller at the end of my speech. [Hon. Members: “No!”]

Last week, we had the unwelcome second anniversary of the Dawlish line being swept into the sea, as my hon. Friend the Member for Newton Abbot (Anne Marie Morris) has pointed out. That was a huge wake-up call to the Government and to all of us in the south-west region. Interestingly, we have all worked together to make one common cause: to make sure that the Government understand the importance of this issue. If there is one thing we have been successful in doing, it is in ensuring that we have spoken with one voice, as have done this evening. We need only look at what happened today, when trains on the line out of Cornwall were once again delayed, because of the appalling weather and the three trees that fell on to the line at Bodmin, to see how fragile our railway line is. As chair of the all-party group on south west rail, I am fighting, alongside my fellow Devon and Cornwall MPs, for better train and other transport links to the region. I have campaigned for that over the past 15 years, initially as a Conservative candidate and more recently as the Member of Parliament for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport.

[Neil Parish]

This is very much about the resilience of infrastructure into the west country, because we have not only the Great Western line but the Waterloo to Exeter line, where we could make big improvements by, for example, using loops around Honiton. We could also open Seaton Junction and bring back the trams to meet the service. This is also about carrying on from Exeter down into Cornwall with a second line, because although it is absolutely right to keep the Totnes and Newton Abbot line, we need that second line so that we have resilience. We seem to be having more and more bad weather, so the first line will get blocked and we have to have a second route into Cornwall.

[Oliver Colvile]

My hon. Friend is 100% right about the need to have that second line. My personal preference is for it to go through Haldon Hill, as that would be ideal, but I understand that it may be too expensive. We therefore need to make sure that we have one that has the potential to go through Okehampton and Tavistock, purely because we have to make sure there is increased capacity and we can put freight on the line, too.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Newton Abbot said, two years ago the line at Dawlish was washed away, and for the following six weeks there were no trains west of Dawlish to the biggest conurbation west of Bristol—Plymouth. Having lost our airport and our trains, the only way anyone from Plymouth could get to London and the midlands was by using the partially dualled A303 and the M4 and M5—we are talking about the only single dual carriageway at the moment. I very much welcome the Government’s commitment to dualling the whole of the A303. I, like my hon. Friend the Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Neil Parish), would like to see it go through the Blackdown hills as well, but I may be being too greedy in that.

In the aftermath of the Dawlish disaster, the Prime Minister visited the Laira depot in my constituency, and I was very reassured to hear today, when I met people from Great Western Railway, that the company is going to be seeking to make full use of Laira and it is not going to be closing. The Prime Minister’s persistence ensured that the orange army worked tirelessly to fix the line before Easter 2014, which of course was the start of the tourist season. This time last year, the Prime Minister met my hon. Friend the Member for South West Devon (Mr Streeter), the chairman of the local enterprise partnership and the leader of Plymouth City Council, and he warmly supported the setting up of the Peninsula Rail Task Force to undertake research into what needs to happen to deliver a resilient railway line. Although I understand that much progress has been made, I was slightly dismayed to learn two weeks ago that Network Rail did not have the money to deliver on the research into journey times and electrification. I very much hope that the Minister will be able to help me on that this evening and make sure that that work happens.

Last Monday, nearly all my fellow Devon and Cornwall MPs met the Chancellor and set out our concerns. We were all elected on a promise to try to make sure that we could deliver a decent railway line to and from the west country, and to improve other transport links. I am very grateful that he met us at such short notice and that he understands what our peninsula’s needs are. On Tuesday, we met the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Devizes (Claire Perry)—we hope she is soon to be our right hon. Friend—who is both responsible for rail and a south-west MP. She told us she would do everything she could to find the £300,000 for this work, and I am delighted that it seems she is going to be able to find that for us.

Let me remind the Minister what we in Plymouth and the far west want. She may be bored with hearing this, but I have been saying it for the past five and a half years and I am going to say it one more time. We want more three-hour train journeys from London to Plymouth and vice versa; and we want trains getting into Plymouth from London before 9 am, so that business people can do a full day’s work in Plymouth. We are the largest urban conurbation west of Bristol—bigger even than that in Wales—and it is important that we be an economic motor to deliver the growth that my hon. Friend the Member for Newton Abbot talked about.

Never again must Plymouth and the far west be cut off from the rest of the UK. I was delighted when the Transport Secretary came to Plymouth before the general election and announced we would get the new high-speed Hitachi AT300 trains in 2018. It was very positive news. I am concerned, though, that it could be subject to further delays, given that the electrification to Newbury is delayed and over-budget. If I have got that wrong, perhaps the Minister will correct me.

We need more three-hour train journeys between Plymouth and London and more trains arriving before 9 am; we need to straighten the tracks and improve the signalling between Totnes and Cornwall; and we need an additional line to the one at Dawlish so that never again can the far west be cut off. Plymouth can only play a significant part in growing our economy if we have a decent transport system—and skills base. I am acutely aware, as is my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Moor View (Johnny Mercer), of the low-skills and low-wage base in our city.

In 2020, an important event will take place in Plymouth, when we commemorate the Mayflower’s leaving the city in 1620 to found the American colonies. To make that a success, people need to be able to get to Plymouth to see where that great ship sailed from.

Just in case the Opposition think they have got off lightly—as I slightly hold the Minister’s feet to the fire—I remind Labour that it does not have a particularly good record on delivering in the peninsula. It announced in its manifesto that it would cancel the dualling of the A358, which would move the bottleneck from Stonehenge down to South Chard. I am delighted that we are continuing with the dualling.

Without the south-west, the Government would not have an overall majority. We have done our bit to ensure a Conservative Government, whom I am delighted to support, so will they please help us deliver for them?