Road Investment Strategy

Simon Wright Excerpts

Monday 1st December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

I have visited that roundabout with a number of hon. Friends from that area. There is no doubt that it needs some work. It is a very sensitive area and it will take some time to evaluate exactly what the right scheme for it is. My hon. Friend is right. It is a bottleneck and I think the proposal will have a transformational effect not just on his constituency, but on the rest of the haulage industry.

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

I am grateful for the investment in the A47, including upgrading the A47-A11 Thickthorn roundabout. Will the Secretary of State confirm that the funding will deliver the scheme required to relieve pressure on one of Norfolk’s busiest roundabouts at a time of rapid planned growth in and around the south of Norwich?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I announced several points that will affect that particular area. They will go a long way to relieving some of the congestion to which my hon. Friend refers, and I think that is welcomed by most Members in East Anglia.

Great Eastern Main Line

Simon Wright Excerpts

Tuesday 11th November 2014 Westminster Hall

[Chloe Smith (Norwich North) (Con)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon), who is kind in ceding his place. His moment will come very shortly. It is for me to add to the arguments of my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Ben Gummer). As he capably laid out, this has been a big project. It has been a joint project, and we hope it will be successful. It is new for the region to have three counties working together, and that has been extremely important. We speak today with the full blessing of our colleagues on the task force from Essex—those in Parliament and those in the business community—and the many thousands of passengers who are signed up to the report. We have brought those people together for the first time in this kind of work. We have done the detailed analysis and it was our great pleasure to present that in the past few days to the Minister, the Secretary of State for Transport and the Chancellor, who asked us to set up the task force and put together the work.

My hon. Friend explained the ambition we have for our region. He is, in fact, the originator of the hope in our region that we can be the California of Europe. He is absolutely right to have set out what we could have back for the mere £476 million investment that we ask for. The benefit-cost ratio identified in the report is crystal clear and is higher than that for High Speed 2 at £9.50 generated for every £1 invested. That is another of the report’s strong arguments.

We think that the decision from here is simple. As my hon. Friend laid out, we ask for confirmation of the infrastructure improvements and that new rolling stock be provided for. There is, however, the downside: we cannot go on like this. We cannot go on without the improvements we call for in the report. Our constituents and people throughout Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex—including the tens of thousands of employees, students and passengers represented by those who signed up to the report—pay their way in tickets and season tickets, and they know they are not getting the service they deserve. We know they are not getting the service they deserve, and we have been honest about that in the report. The report is frank in saying that to miss this opportunity to invest would condemn those passengers—our constituents—to another decade of misery on this train line.

We cannot go on with such ageing rolling stock, for a number of very good reasons, one being the reliability problems it has caused. One need only to have looked at the Eastern Daily Press and other regional papers over the summer to have seen the chaos on our line resulting from breakdowns and delays. They compound each other, because of the quality of the stock and the infrastructure we are dealing with. We all have examples of constituents who have been prevented from getting to work at all—indeed, prevented from getting anywhere at all. That is not acceptable in this day and age, particularly given that they are already commuting up to two hours a day each way.

Another reason why we cannot continue with this rolling stock is that in years to come, it will be unlawful under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. That underlines the point that now is the time for action on the rolling stock and the accompanying infrastructure improvements.

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

I thank my hon. Friend, my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Ben Gummer) and the task force for their incredibly important work. For all the reasons already given, I would like to see the rolling stock substantially improved, overhauled and, I hope, replaced with new stock. Does my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Chloe Smith) agree that it is important that we consider the working environment provided by any replacement rolling stock? It must be comfortable and must provide free wi-fi for all passengers, power sockets and the various facilities that commuters and those working on these trains need.

[Chloe Smith]

I endorse the points made by my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour. The task force has been able to secure some short-term improvements—such as the provision of power points—not to all stock across the franchise fleet, but to the InterCity stock that serves his constituents and mine. That, however, just gets us to an equal starting point. We have so much more to do, as the report makes clear.

The task force has laid out the problem and how we can solve it. It has laid out the unique opportunity we have, why now is the time to act, and the consequences of not acting. Such investment does not go ahead without the commitment of Members of Parliament and the partners who worked with us on the report. These things do not happen by accident: we have pulled together a year’s worth of hard work, undertaken not only for those whom we represent, but for many thousands of passengers. I think they stand with us today in saying that these issues must be raised in Parliament, and it falls to us as their representatives to do so. I sincerely hope that we are successful, so that those passengers can once again have faith in their rail service.

A47

Simon Wright Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2014 Westminster Hall

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Broadland (Mr Simpson) on securing this debate. I fully and wholeheartedly endorse his comments. I want to spend a few minutes outlining why Government support for the A47 would not only complement but enhance the coalition’s range of strategies for supporting growth, particularly in and around Norwich, and, crucially, why a whole-route approach should be taken.

Norwich is a key driver of economic growth and has the highest economic output in the region, but further growth has been held back by poor transport infrastructure across the eastern region. The A47, with the A11 and the great eastern mainline, has been subject to underinvestment for decades. The coalition’s investment in the A11 is extremely welcome, but unfortunately we in Norfolk are playing catch-up.

The section of the A47 immediately around Norwich is already fully dualled, and following today’s debate I hope we will all commit to exploring further the case for dualling the whole of the road. To release further growth in Norwich, we need improvements to a number of junctions, including the Thickthorn and Longwater junctions. I assure the Minister and the Treasury that improvements to the A47 will make an important contribution to unleashing the full economic growth potential of other coalition Government initiatives in and around Norwich.

Full dualling of the A11 will be complete by the end of this year. It will bring great benefits to businesses and the local economy, and improve reliability of journey times for all motorists. Securing funding for the dualling of the A11 was a key infrastructure objective agreed by the Norfolk nine MPs at the beginning of the coalition in 2010. We are grateful to the Government for granting our wishes after 30 years of campaigning in the county.

The A11 meets the A47 at the Thickthorn roundabout, which is also the gateway to Norwich from the A11. This is one of the county’s busiest junctions. It needs an overhaul to improve capacity and that will become increasingly apparent to drivers following the completion of the A11 dualling. Significant housing growth is planned for the area around Thickthorn, including at Hethersett and Cringleford, and a little further south-west at Wymondham, adding further pressure to this key junction, which is a rather unattractive welcome to Norwich.

Plans have been published for a possible solution that would provide the option for traffic on the A11 to bypass the Thickthorn roundabout through a new tunnel under the A11 and a new bridge over the A47. Norfolk county council has commissioned further work on this proposal, and I hope that the Highways Agency will prove supportive in establishing a long-term solution. Due to the housing growth planned in the area, that is needed sooner rather than later.

Norwich research park, which is located just south of Norwich, is accessed through two of the A47’s junctions —Thickthorn and the B1108 Earlham road. Some 11,000 people are employed at the park and it provides world-class research in health, life and environmental sciences through the expertise at the Norfolk and Norwich university hospital, the university of East Anglia and four independent research institutions. There is a need for improved road links and junction capacity to serve proposed growth at the park. The coalition’s 2011 Budget announced £26 million for the park to fund infrastructure and premises to pave the way for developing the campus. The 11,000 staff currently working there could be joined by a further 5,000 over the next 10 years, partly as a result of the coalition’s investment. Improving the A47, including the Thickthorn junction, will help to accelerate growth.

The Norwich research park is also a key element of the Greater Norwich city deal. I was pleased to welcome the Deputy Prime Minister to Norwich at the end of last year, when he signed the deal. I congratulate the local authorities and the New Anglia local enterprise partnership on securing it. The city deal may lead to 19,000 new jobs in key economic sectors, and its approval strengthens the case for improving the A47. Norwich has a great deal to gain from A47 improvements, and eventual full dualling of the A47 will promote new economic opportunities along the whole route, both to the midlands and across to continental Europe.

However, the case for change is not purely economic. Despite being a route of major importance to the region, away from the dualled sections, particularly of the A47, the road can be treacherous. Single carriageway stretches, including the Acle straight to the east of Norwich, are still the scene of far too many casualties. That must change.

As a young boy, I grew up not much more than a stone’s throw from the roadside of the A47 at North Tuddenham. I remember the difference in 1992 with the opening of the Dereham-North Tuddenham A47 improvements and with the Norwich southern bypass. It is hard to imagine how the A47 functioned without those improvements, yet more than 20 years later other key sections are left woefully inadequate.

We need to move away from a piecemeal approach to the A47 every few years, and instead work towards a whole-route plan by establishing the case for full dualling from Peterborough to Lowestoft. Many of us understand that the funding will not be made available in one go, but a whole-route strategy will at least avoid one-off patching work without a sense of how it fits into the big picture.

I hope the Minister has noted that, as with the A11, the A47 is a route that has the full support of all nine Norfolk MPs, plus a few honourable additions from over the border. The Norfolk nine, working with the A47 Alliance, are confident that significant economic and social benefits will be delivered through investment in the route. I look forward to hearing the Minister’s response.

[Philip Davies (in the Chair)]

I intend to call the shadow Minister no later than 10.40. Six hon. Members are seeking to catch my eye, which gives just over eight minutes each. I do not intend to set a time limit, but I hope that they will be mindful of that to give everyone a fair crack of the whip.

Oral Answers to Questions

Simon Wright Excerpts

Thursday 7th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Goodwill]

We regularly publicise the issue of drink-driving, particularly in the run-up to Christmas, and will continue to do so. I do not know whether the problem is worse in Northern Ireland than elsewhere, but I am sure that the devolved Government will push the same line as us.

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

According to a report by the transport consultants, Atkins, enhancements to capacity, line speed and service quality on the great eastern main line could bring an extra £3.7 billion into the economy. Will the Minister confirm that the recommendations of the East Anglia rail prospectus, which is backed by MPs from across the region, will be progressed at the earliest possible opportunity?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Stephen Hammond)]

I congratulate those who put a considerable amount of work and effort into unifying the stakeholders in East Anglia and producing that excellent document. It contains a huge number of recommendations. I will continue to engage with MPs and others to ensure that we complete the process, that their voices are heard and that we understand the benefits of the recommendations.

Oral Answers to Questions

Simon Wright Excerpts

Thursday 27th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Hammond]

My right hon. Friend obviously did not have quite enough time to mention Stratford in his closing remarks, but I assure the hon. Lady that the Government look at all these things seriously and will continue to do so.

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Patrick McLoughlin)]

Since I last addressed the House, I have been able to announce the full programme of local pinch point schemes, benefiting from £190 million of capital funding from the Government. Recognising the crucial role that such capital investment plays in unlocking growth, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer yesterday announced a 5.5% real-terms increase in the Department’s capital budget.

The Government have also this morning published the complete road casualty statistics for 2012. I can tell the House that in 2012 the number of reported deaths on our roads fell by 8% to their lowest level since records began in 1926. This is welcome news. However, we cannot afford to be complacent. The number of cyclist fatalities increased by 10% within the year, underlining the importance of our continued work in making cycling safer.

[Simon Wright]

Norwich is one of the country’s leading cycling cities, with one in five adults cycling at least once a week. The city has ambitions to double this figure in the next 10 years, and Norwich’s bid for city cycling ambition funding would go a long way to achieving that aim. May I urge the Secretary of State to back the bid and inform me when he intends to make an announcement?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I welcome Norwich’s ambitious plan to double the number of adults cycling over the next 10 years. An announcement on the successful cycling ambition grant bidders will be made as soon as possible, but as I said in my opening statement we cannot be complacent about cycling safety. I look to the increasing interest in the House in this subject and I will consider what else the Department can do.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sarah Newton (Truro and Falmouth) (Con)]

4. What plans he has to introduce an e-petitions system applicable to both Parliament and Government.

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

6. What plans he has to introduce an e-petitions system applicable to both Parliament and Government.

[Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)]

8. What plans he has to introduce an e-petitions system applicable to both Parliament and Government.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Lansley]

I agree that reforms of this House should not have an adverse effect on the successful work of the Backbench Business Committee, which this coalition Government established. It may be possible, none the less, that there is a role for a Select Committee or Committees in examining petitions, taking evidence on petitions, seeking information from Government, and even recommending debates in Parliament. However, I envisage that it would remain for the Backbench Business Committee to consider and schedule debates.

[Simon Wright]

Under the current system, the MP of a signatory to an e-petition is not made aware that a constituent’s signature has been added. Can reforms to the e-petition system take account of the importance of promoting direct engagement between the signatory and their elected representative?

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. Improving engagement with Parliament and politics must be the focus of any improved system. I am grateful to him for his suggestion on how we can achieve that. However, I alert him to the fact that more than 11 million signatures have been added to petitions in the two years or so since the Government’s e-petitions system was established. I am not sure that hon. Members would welcome an e-mail for each of those signatures, but I do agree that there are ways in which we can open up the data overall to help Members and their constituents to identify and work together on popular petitions.

A47 (Upgrading and Dualling)

Simon Wright Excerpts

Thursday 7th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[George Freeman]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. He is absolutely right that one of the most dangerous things about this road now is its intermittent dualling. In both of our constituencies, some of the most lethal sections are those where the road goes from dualled to undualled. Every month we hear of terrible injuries and deaths on the road.

This campaign has the full support not only of the county council and the local enterprise partnership, but of all my fellow Norfolk MPs, and I thank them for their leadership and support. On this, as on other infrastructure issues, we are “Norfolk united.” A number of colleagues are unable to speak in the debate. In particular, I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Great Yarmouth (Brandon Lewis), who is now rightly on the Front Bench as Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. He has played a key role in highlighting the Acle straight and the Vauxhall roundabout, and in making our case powerfully to Ministers and helping to organise the two meetings we have had. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss), who also holds a Front-Bench post, as Under-Secretary of State for Education, and is unable to be here tonight. She has made clear her support for the A47 as a major route.

Across Norfolk we have for many years waited in vain for infrastructure funding. It is well recognised that this coalition Government have done more in the last two or three years for infrastructure in Norfolk than have successive Governments over previous decades. We have finally had success on the A11. Those of us who use that road, which is still a bottleneck, can now see the bulldozers laying the foundations for the dualling that will be done by 2015.

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. I hope many of the important A47 junction improvements adjacent to my constituency, such as those on to the A11, the A140 and on to Longwater, will be made available through local developer contributions, freeing up land capacity to support thousands of new jobs in Norwich. Does he agree, however, that the city will become even more attractive to investors when harder-to-fund schemes between Great Yarmouth and Norwich out to King’s Lynn and the west become deliverable, too?

[George Freeman]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, which serves to remind me that the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Miss Smith), who could not be present tonight and who is also muted by virtue of being on the Front Bench, has asked me to pass on this comment:

“The A47 is an important road for Norwich businesses and households. I support the campaign for its improvement because it will bring more jobs to the city and around the county.”

Norfolk has waited for infrastructure improvements for a long time, and now, like the No. 11 bus, many have come at once: the A11 is being dualled; there is substantial investment in our rail network as a result of our putting together our Anglian rail prospectus; and the Government are funding fast broadband. All of that comes not before time, because our county is ready to rise and meet the challenge of a rebalanced economy. With the necessary infrastructure in place, we will be able to do so.

The A47 is now the most pressing and urgent infrastructure issue in our county. It is the blocked artery that runs across it from east to west, linking our economy to the midlands and allowing goods to be moved in and out. We have major ports of international significance on our east coast, and in and around Great Yarmouth there is an increasingly significant energy cluster. It is lamentable that this road was not prioritised by the RDA, and many of us may wonder why on earth not.

My personal interest is obvious. The A47 runs right through the middle of my Mid Norfolk constituency and, as my hon. Friend the Member for South Norfolk (Mr Bacon) has highlighted, its intermittent dualling presents great dangers to all its users and to those in the rural economy who seek not to use the A47, but to cross it, whether on bicycle, horse or tractor. I know from my own experiences of cycling the route before the last election just how dangerous it is. At this point I should like to pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Broadland (Mr Simpson), who recently drove the route in a union flag-bedecked Mini from east to west to highlight its importance.

My other interest in this issue is as the Government’s adviser on life sciences. I have talked before in this Chamber about the potential of the Norwich research park, an increasingly globally recognised centre of science and research in three of the most exciting global markets: food, medicine and energy. Its companies pioneer some of the most exciting science in the country, such as the blight-resistant potato and the Lotus car I recently saw that is fuelled by biofuels created from agricultural waste.

Norwich is a centre of life sciences, but it sits out deep in the last county not to be connected properly to the national trunk road system, and with no non-stop links through to the rail network. It is a county that desperately needs infrastructure if it is to be allowed to play its part in the Government’s mission to rebalance our economy.

The truth is that this is a trans-European route of economic significance that has been neglected for far too long. The lack of connectivity and poor development are holding back the whole Norfolk economy. With investment in our infrastructure, we can spread growth around and reduce the amount that we in government have to spend on welfare and on tackling the problems of social and economic exclusion that flow from poor infrastructure.

The opportunity is significant. As the business plan makes clear, with a programme of targeted improvements we can transform the 105 miles of the A47 into a truly strategic national and international link, linking our region to central and northern Europe and to the midlands and the north of England, and linking our regional clusters—Cambridge, Norwich, Yarmouth and Ipswich—of innovation and science and new business growth. As the business plan makes clear, over the 20 years for which it sets out the programme of work, we have the potential to generate 10,000 jobs, to increase the economic output of our county by £390 million a year, to attract private investment worth more than £800 million, to recruit an extra 500 investment-related jobs and to cut journey times by 30 minutes, delivering savings of £42 million to road users. These are significant numbers, and they are not, Mr Deputy Speaker, you will be pleased to know, plucked out of the air but put together by professional consultants and officials at the county council and the LEP who constructed the business case. Of course, these works will also dramatically improve safety for users and for those crossing the route.

Importantly, the document sets out a series of regional benefits across the route. In King’s Lynn, in the west, where the focus is on regeneration, the plan envisages 750 new jobs, £15 million of private investment and 400 new dwellings.

West Coast Rail Franchise

Simon Wright Excerpts

Thursday 6th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

I welcome the degree of transparency that Ministers have brought to these matters. What plans is the Secretary of State making to foster a culture in which admissions of fault are freely made in the Department and processes paused and rectified where necessary? Is it not right that if mistakes are found, hands must be held up?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I am pleased that my hon. Friend welcomes the transparency that I have demonstrated today. I hope I do not have to do it too often.

Rail (East Anglia)

Simon Wright Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd July 2012 Westminster Hall

[Elizabeth Truss (South West Norfolk) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal (Dr Coffey) on securing the debate. It was tremendous when we all met yesterday at Liverpool Street station—commuters saw the swarm of East Anglian MPs launching the manifesto that we had put together. This is the first time that all of the MPs from East Anglia have agreed on a common platform from which to make progress, which is highly important and significant.

I cannot compete with my hon. Friend, who has nine stations in her constituency. I represent only five, although they are five important stations: Watlington and Downham Market on the Fen line; and Brandon, Thetford and Harling Road on the Norwich to Cambridge line. Those stations are incredibly popular and, over the past four years, we have seen a rise in passenger numbers of 20% at both Thetford and Downham Market, which outstrips the national rise. The reason is the strong growth in employment in Cambridge and throughout the region—Norfolk has bucked the trend in manufacturing, and we are also doing well in the food and farming industries—so we see a growing number of people using the train to get to and from work.

Having used the services many a time, I can testify that the carriages are getting more and more packed, in particular at peak hours, going both ways; an interesting thing about the Fen line is that it has almost as many people travelling out of London as into London, so the route is well balanced. That is only the start of what we are about to see, with massive growth in population throughout Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. We will see another 200,000 homes by 2021, so it is vital to have the rail services to deal with that increased capacity, because by then the congestion in our region will cost the economy an estimated £1 billion.

At the moment on those lines, we have hourly services, with a few additional services in peak hours, and that simply is not enough with the increased employment, housing and growth in the area. With my fellow local MPs, I have been calling for half-hourly services. The current work that we are doing to understand the effect of improvements to the Ely North junction indicates that investment in it would have a positive net present value of £260 million to our local economy, which is huge.

The Ely North junction is becoming famous in debates on East Anglian rail. It is a small area from which tracks were removed in the early 1980s, making it only a single-track junction. I recently visited it with my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Norfolk (George Freeman). Sadly, due to health and safety reasons, we were not allowed to walk along the tracks to see the junction, but we made do with kneeling at the level crossing, such was our commitment to see the junction improved, and driving around the Ely area, which is in neither of our constituencies. We wanted to visit to ensure that we understood the logistics.

To upgrade the junction would be a relatively low-cost endeavour, but the effect would be felt on a vast number of lines; my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal spoke about freight services but, likewise, journeys to Ipswich, Peterborough, King’s Lynn and Norwich would all be improved. The critical importance of the junction came to light in May last year when I had a meeting with my hon. Friend the Member for North East Cambridgeshire (Stephen Barclay) and Network Rail. That key bottleneck was identified as what stood between us and getting a half-hourly service.

There are other issues on the line, such as the single track between Littleport and Downham Market, which often causes delays; likewise, a lot of level crossings ought to be dealt with by Network Rail. In the short term, however, opening up the Ely North junction would make half-hourly services possible on the line. In December 2011 my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Miss Smith) organised a rail summit, at which the issue was highlighted. We had a further summit in January, specifically to discuss the junction.

My hon. Friends the Members for Mid Norfolk and for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock) also held a meeting with the Transport Secretary in May. She very much agreed that we needed to see expenditure evened out across the country. She understands, as we do, that for a long time East Anglia has paid into the pot while other parts of the country have taken out of it. Given the economic potential in our area, that is damaging not only for local passengers and commuters but for the economic growth potential of the country as a whole.

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

One of the sectors of the economy that has not been mentioned yet but is incredibly important to Norwich is the retail sector. It is worth more than £1 billion every year, and one of the biggest complaints that I receive from shoppers is lack of parking. Does my hon. Friend agree that encouraging more shoppers to use rail, which we can do by improving the service, will unleash the current block on growing the retail sector of the economy, so ensuring that Norwich will continue to be one of the UK’s top 10 retail destinations?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I agree with my hon. Friend. There is also huge tourism potential in the region. Along the Norwich-Cambridge line, stations such as Thetford and Brandon could provide a good base for tourism in the Brecks if services were more frequent. People could also go shopping in Norwich when visiting the area.

At the moment, not only do we have unprecedented agreement among MPs of the region but we have a golden opportunity, with the Thameslink franchise coming up in 2013 and the Greater Anglia franchise coming up in 2013, to ensure that we specify the services we want. I encourage the Minister to ensure that half-hourly services are specified in both franchises. Demand exists from passengers, and the train operating companies have the ability to deliver, but it would be helpful to have a resolution from the Department for Transport that it will ask for that level of service, which our local commuters need, so that we have real value.

The other concern that I want to raise is intercity express programme trains, which were scheduled to go to King’s Lynn as part of the Thameslink franchise. Is that still the case, and can the Minister guarantee that we will see the new rolling stock on the line; that if we are successful in securing a half-hourly service we will not have a shuttle service from Cambridge to King’s Lynn, and that direct services to London will continue? Direct services are important for many local residents who either commute to London, or must travel there for business reasons. I would like answers to those specific points, but I am encouraged by the level of engagement of the Department. I hope that that will bring to an end years of under-investment in East Anglian rail, and that we are about to see a new golden era for our transportation. This is a huge opportunity to support a growing part of the country, and I again thank my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal for this debate.

Rail Reform

Simon Wright Excerpts

Thursday 8th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

We recognise that we need to tackle the underlying inefficiencies in the railways, which Sir Roy McNulty identified as totalling around £3.5 billion. I also recognise that some of the network provides a broader public good and that there will therefore be a need for public subsidy. However, we need to make sure that that represents good value for taxpayer money. We are concerned about overcrowding. That is why we are investing in 2,700 new carriages, which will provide extra capacity. That is why the overall £18 billion of investment going into the industry is so crucial; that is one way in which we can improve performance. Of course, making sure the industry is financially sustainable is absolutely critical too.

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

Can the Secretary of State confirm that plans are progressing for the electrification of 800 miles of rail track? How does that scale of ambition compare with the achievements of the previous Government?

[Justine Greening]

That is an interesting question. I think we all understand that electrification can bring a broad set of benefits. The previous Government electrified 39 miles of line in 13 years—that is about 3 miles a year—and we have already announced that 800 miles of line are to be electrified. I hope that answers the hon. Gentleman’s question.

Transport Disruption (Winter 2010)

Simon Wright Excerpts

Thursday 1st December 2011 Westminster Hall

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I congratulate the Select Committee on Transport on its report, which made numerous recommendations that many of us can support. I will speak briefly about the recommendations relating to better weather forecasting and the provision of improved warnings and travel information to drivers.

Achieving better medium and long-term forecasting would allow transport operators to plan better for problems ahead. We start in a good position. The Met Office is widely recognised as one of the best weather predictors in the world, providing accurate and reliable forecasts over various time scales. The Met Office relies increasingly on supercomputing to carry out its work. Developing capacity and capability is vital if it is to undertake more detailed forecasting in future.

The science is available now to predict weather better, but computing power is required to realise that science. In the past, meteorology applied to weather forecasting had the most cutting-edge computing power available. Today, that is no longer the case, but last winter showed us that it is still needed. Better computing power means that the science can be applied in ever higher degrees of resolution.

The investment required to ensure that the Met Office has adequate computing power is probably about £15 million a year. That is a little more than the hon. Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs Ellman) suggested, but it is in the same ballpark. That investment would bring tangible benefits to the UK through improved short-range weather forecasts, long-term predictions and climate change projections.

The economic case for better forecasting is clear in relation to advance planning for extreme weather events affecting transport infrastructure, but other opportunities would arise from better flooding, snowstorm and high wind forecasting. The insurance industry, which has a strong presence in my constituency, also stands to benefit, given that two thirds of the world’s insured losses are related to natural events. Getting information out early means that businesses and communities can plan their activities and, in extreme events, possibly save lives, too. For long-term planning, the improvements in climate modelling from improved computing power would help significantly to inform investment in and delivery of major transport infrastructure projects. The Met Office’s public weather service at present is already worth more than £500 million to the economy. Increasing computing power would increase that even more. The sooner we invest in improving the supercomputing capacity of the Met Office, the sooner the UK will see the social and economic benefits.

I also want to say a few words about how best to communicate the impact of weather on driving conditions. At present, the Met Office-issued warnings are to be interpreted by drivers based on The Highway Code, with advice provided through the media by the Highways Agency and police. Last winter, drivers were advised at the height of the extreme weather conditions not to use the roads unless they had to. However, the interpretation by drivers of this advice is not clear. Do people who hear this message ask themselves, “Do I need to use my car to make this journey?”—the answer to which is often yes—or do they ask themselves, “Will there be serious implications to not making this journey at all?”, in which case the answer might be no?

It needs to be noted by Ministers that the Highways Agency research on driving behaviour in the winter before last shows that there had been little change in behaviour, despite the severity of the weather and the warnings issued. I strongly support the Committee’s recommendation for research into travel messages and how they influence behaviour, or fail to. The nature of language used, consistency of message and clarity for the recipients are all vital. If we are to tell people not to travel unless necessary, they need to be clear about what circumstances are and are not necessary. Perhaps advice needs to be more direct—“Do not travel unless there is a medical need to do so.” Perhaps different levels of alert could be devised, but let us support proper research into the issue so that we can know what makes a difference and what does not, rather than simply tweak existing practices that have not always delivered results.

Websites can also play an important role to help drivers plan their journeys. The Highways Agency’s Traffic England website, for example, provides real-time information on any problems on the motorway and A-road network. We need to make sure that drivers are aware of such tools, but we also need to recognise that at times of high demand some websites simply cannot cope. There were reports on some days of extreme weather last winter that traffic information websites were going down. For those drivers who are already out on the roads, it is vital that every effort is made to ensure that there is access to real, in-time information about the conditions on particular routes, and that drivers are able to adjust their routes as necessary, including before joining, and therefore adding to, existing problems on roads.

The AA’s survey of drivers has already been mentioned. It highlighted that drivers most wanted to be actively directed away from motorways if there were problems, and that they supported the use of the police to carry out that function. Roadside assistance could also be delivered through improved information and signage. I support efforts by the Highways Agency to develop the use of variable message signs and the expanded use of similar technologies across the road network where appropriate.

The ever-increasing availability and use of in-car technologies, such as sat-nav and smart phones, mean that new opportunities are available for providing real-time data specific to the interest of the individual driver following a specific route. Again, I think that the Highways Agency has an important role to play, working with providers of data-based services, to ensure that the data that it provides are as complete and as usable as they can be. There is even a role for the agency to help develop data applications of its own where needed.

We need to get weather forecasting as good as it can be, and we need people who are both planning journeys and driving on our roads to have access to the most up to date and accurate information about the weather and the condition of particular routes, and a system of warnings that are proven to be effective in changing driver behaviour when the conditions require it.