Yasmin Qureshi
Main Page: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)Department Debates - View all Yasmin Qureshi's debates with the Department for Transport
Future of Rail
Yasmin Qureshi Excerpts(2 years ago)
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Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to appear before you, Sir Charles. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) for introducing this debate on the future of rail. I say, “What future?”
Many of the problems with rail can be traced back to 1993, when British Rail was privatised into more than 100 separate companies under the Conservative Government. It was supposed to bring greater efficiency and innovation. Instead, it brought fragmentation, confusion and extortionate fare increases.
In 2018, the Government finally admitted that privatisation was not working when the east coast franchise collapsed and was taken into public ownership. It is now making profit. Instead of doing the right thing, putting passengers before profit, and bringing our rail franchises back into full public ownership, the Government are now proposing a joint system under which taxpayers will continue to pay hundreds of millions of pounds in profit to rail companies to run the network. It is unacceptable.
For years I have had constituents write to me about the impact of daily overcrowded trains and infrequent, unreliable train services. They have lost jobs, missed lectures and medical appointments, and in some cases have been sanctioned by the Department for Work and Pensions for arriving late to their appointment. The cost to commuters has grown by 50% in the past 12 years of Tory government, and Transport for London is now facing a 40% loss of its core funding.
In January, a report was published on behalf of the Minister’s Department that said that only major Government funding would solve the accessibility problems at stations across the country. One of the rail operators interviewed said that 60% of stations lacked step-free access from street level to the platforms. Just last month, elderly constituents from Farnworth in my constituency were returning from a holiday and took a train from Manchester airport to Bolton with heavy luggage. When they got to Bolton, the station lift was not working. What were they supposed to do? Another woman behind them was carrying a pram.
We know from reports that ticket offices are set to close across the country. That will impact those who need face-to-face services, such as the elderly, the disabled, pregnant women and other people. What will happen to them, especially if trains are not running at night?
We were told that there was going to be an integrated plan on infrastructure for the north, which was then scrapped. For a whole year, I sat on the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Bill Committee. We had seven sessions a week. HS2 will run from London to Birmingham, and we were told that there would be a continuation of the line to Manchester and Leeds, but that integrated rail plan has now been scrapped. It is wrong. We need transport infrastructure in the north. We also need proper train services connecting the east and west along the M62 corridor—