Southport to Manchester Rail Services

Debate between Philip Hollobone and Damien Moore

Wednesday 30th June 2021 Westminster Hall

[Damien Moore (Southport) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered rail services from Southport to Manchester.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone. I am pleased to have obtained this debate about train services to and from my constituency to Manchester, particularly the Manchester Piccadilly service, which is critical for my constituents and local businesses. Many of my constituents use that train service for employment, particularly in Wigan and Manchester, for education and for leisure. Local businesses also rely on the train service to bring potential customers, employees and other visitors to our tourist economy. All they want—indeed, all they deserve—is a direct train to the south side of Manchester.

My hon. Friend the Minister is aware that I have campaigned on this issue since I was first elected as a Member of Parliament. The good news is that, over that time, we have repeatedly fought and won to secure the future of this important service. I owe much credit to the Southport and Ormskirk rail travellers association and to the numerous Rail Ministers who have preceded my hon. Friend, including my hon. Friend the Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones), the former Member for Orpington and my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys (Paul Maynard). I know he shares an interest in this particular line, as its alteration impacts his constituents as it does mine.

I pay tribute to the hon. Member for West Lancashire (Rosie Cooper), who has led on this issue with me, and my hon. Friends the Members for South Ribble (Katherine Fletcher) and for Bolton West (Chris Green) and the hon. Members for Wigan (Lisa Nandy) and for Makerfield (Yvonne Fovargue) for their support. When there have been problems with rail timetables, we have collectively done our best to respond and force changes to the benefit of our constituents.

The bad news is that I cannot set out that glistening picture today because the service is once again faced with the prospect of being downgraded. In January, the Department for Transport, in partnership with Network Rail and Transport for the North together, having already established the Manchester recovery taskforce, launched a consultation on timetable options to improve rail performance in the north of England. That represented a major backward step for many of my constituents, who had only just secured the return of their direct services to Manchester Piccadilly. As one of my constituents said: “The most frustrating thing is that we only secured the return of the direct rail service to Manchester Piccadilly back in December, and whilst it was far from perfect, we had direct rail services to Piccadilly. Less than a month later and our town’s rail services are back on the table like a poker chip.”

The key issue is not about having a consultation, but about the reason behind it and the front-loaded way in which the options to change the routing and frequency of some existing journeys have been too heavily stacked against my constituents from the start. All three options presented by the Manchester recovery taskforce would remove my constituents’ direct rail service to Manchester Piccadilly.

Before I address that point, I will set out for the Minister the nature of the problems that my constituents currently face. Manchester has five city centre stations. For many years, the Southport line had two daytime services to Manchester—one to Victoria in the north of the city and one through Piccadilly on the south side to Manchester airport. The service specification for the Northern franchise let in 2016 meant that the long-standing Southport airport service was withdrawn and all trains from my constituency were to be routed to Victoria.

A campaign challenged that change, conducted passenger surveys and, in collaboration with the rail authorities and train operators, analysed travel data, which proved journeys to Manchester were destination-specific to one of the five city centre stations for reasons of work, business, study, health, leisure and, in the case of Piccadilly, connections to the rest of the country. Two thirds of Southport and Lancashire residents travelling to Manchester usually required the south side.

In April 2017, my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys, who back then held the responsibility for our country’s rail services, recognised the issue and directed the franchisee, Arriva Rail North, to present a business plan that would deliver an already identified solution. Following my election as Member of Parliament for Southport in June that year and with ARN dragging its feet, I asked the campaign group to draw up a business case, which I sponsored and presented to the Secretary of State for Transport in January 2018.

The case was accepted by the rail industry. By then, it was committed to the May 2018 timetable debacle, which included the withdrawal of the Southport airport service. Two morning and evening services were retained. The services were restored incrementally up to the completion of the reinstatement in December 2019, but that did not include services directly to Manchester airport. When emergency key worker timetables were introduced with the first covid lockdown last year, the Southport line services, like many, were halved. Significantly, in recognition of the line’s importance, the train operator, which is now Northern Trains Ltd, devised and implemented a non-standard train path and timetable to maintain a direct key worker service to the south side. Since the pandemic, the Southport line has been one of 12 operated reliably and punctually through the Castlefield corridor.

Those are issues with the current service, but I come now to the fundamental problem of the Manchester recovery taskforce’s consultation and the proposed timetable changes to and from Southport: the downgrading of our direct rail services. When it is fully running, the line will benefit those of my constituents who want to get on a train at Southport station and sit on it as it carries them through to Wigan or perhaps the north side of Manchester. That might be of benefit to some of my constituents. However, for those who do not want that or who want a faster service to Piccadilly, such proposed timetable changes were never the answer. My constituents have been asked to forgo a service that takes them to one of the three stations in south Manchester and within a five to 10-minute walk of their workplace, the universities and the hospital. They are now being asked to use a rail service that will take them to a place they do not want to travel to, on the wrong side of the city, which will add a further 20 minutes to their overall journey time.

Allow me to provide the Minister with a bit of context. Piccadilly is the busiest station in central Manchester and the only one in the north-west region that provides connections to services everywhere in Britain. It is not a backwater at the end of the metro service. Manchester Piccadilly is a crucial stop that promotes my constituency’s tourist economy and acts as a pathway to tens of thousands of visitors each year, including to the Southport Air Show, the Southport Flower Show and, I am proud to say, The Open, which was held at the Royal Birkdale in 2017 and attracted almost a quarter of a million visitors. The station is also crucial to my constituents’ having the opportunity to attend good universities and access employment opportunities. There is now talk of a fourth compromise option, but the MRT should not be planning for Oxford Road to be the main Manchester station for my town. The demands of my constituents and visitors is driven by destination—simply put, they need to be where they want to be.

The idea that the industry will decide what sort of service people can get confirms that, for so long, it has felt that it enjoys playing trains until it concerns the passengers. However, passengers are key, and those who choose to use the service must have it available to Deansgate, Oxford Road and Piccadilly along the Castlefield corridor. Similarly, my constituency should not be seen as a scapegoat to alleviate congestion along a busy stretch of line, for which there is no operational argument. I was deeply concerned when the MRT reported timetable changes that showed that it had always been the intention to remove my town’s direct rail links to Manchester Piccadilly under the caveat of consultation, and that the main destination of services from my town would be Oxford Road.

That was never made clear in the consultation, but it absolutely confirms my constituents’ fears that the Manchester recovery taskforce’s consultation was nothing more than a caveat to removing my town’s direct rail services. At some stage, it was always going to turn around and say, “We want to remove the direct rail service to Manchester Piccadilly. You can get off at Oxford Road instead.” I rejected the idea in 2017, when I was first elected, and I reject it now, as do the overwhelming majority of my constituents who responded to the consultation.

I urge the Minister to ensure that the Northern franchise continues to provide a direct service between Southport and Manchester Piccadilly on the mainline, and not just for Oxford Road. There has to be a sufficient number of services at the right time and with enough seats, so that people can use the service that they need. My constituents want the services restored and, at best, strengthened. Some might say it is natural for me, as the local Member of Parliament, to stand up and say that for my constituents, but it matters beyond my constituency.

Some people using the services to Manchester Piccadilly are not from my constituency but get on at my station. As I have said, this issue affects a number of hon. Members’ constituencies, just as it affects large areas of Lancashire and Merseyside. Instead of using the trains, some of my constituents have already started to drive to Manchester because of the reduced service. If that is the trend, it will likely increase the chance of one of the three proposed changes put forward by the Manchester recovery taskforce being implemented. How does that help our 2050 climate target? How does that achieve levelling up?

We want more people to use the trains, but we will not achieve that if services are cut off from entire communities such as mine. We want the country’s economy to thrive. It is right that we level up across the UK—an idea that my constituents fully support—but levelling up is not a wonderful esoteric prize that only a few should benefit from. It must apply to all parts of the country. Good train services matter to my constituents, and are crucial if we are to build back better from the pandemic and strengthen our economy for us all. I urge everyone involved—the Minister, Transport for the North, Network Rail and the Department for Transport—to do everything to ensure that my constituents continue to have the train services that they need. We must continue to see people using the trains bringing people from Manchester and Wigan to my constituency, and from Southport to Manchester, to provide opportunities to access good jobs and education.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (in the Chair)]

The debate left the station on time at 1605 and must arrive at its destination on time, no later than 1635. I call the Rail Minister.