Extracts from Transport
Questions
(Manchester, Withington)
(Lab): Over the past four years, Greater Manchester has
lost 8 million miles of bus routes, largely owing to the chronic
underfunding of local government. Councils are forced to freeze
funds, while costs rocket. Does the Minister accept that unless
local government funding is increased, mayors and transport
authorities will not be able to use the new powers in the Bus
Services Act to full effect?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport
(Ms Nusrat Ghani): The Department contributed just over
£32 million towards the £43.2 million Manchester cross city bus
package, which was completed in 2017. Now we need another little
beat of the drum, because there is another huge sum coming up.
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority received a guaranteed
allocation of £243 million from the £1.7 billion transforming
cities fund to improve public transport. If the hon. Gentleman is
still not satisfied, I suggest that he talk to the Mayor...
(Stretford and Urmston)
(Lab):...Substantial congestion exists on the M60, M62
and M56 around Greater Manchester, but Highways England’s
investment plans start north-east of this area. Given the very
significant economic regeneration plans for south-west Manchester
including at the airport, the new HS2 station and New Carrington
in my constituency, which the Minister has visited, does he agree
that Highways England must now attend to the investment that that
will require in the south-west quarter of this motorway network?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport
(Jesse Norman): I take on board the hon. Lady’s point,
but the point I would make in response is that, over the next
three years, Highways England will be investing and, by the end
of that period, at a rate roughly three times more than the rate
the Government inherited in 2010. Therefore, unprecedented levels
of investment are going in. The hon. Lady is welcome to write to
me or meet me if she wants to discuss this issue further.
Exracts from End of Day
Adjournment debate on Northern Rail Timetable
Changes
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for
Transport (Jesse Norman):...In Greater Manchester,
Northern will begin to operate two trains and hour between Buxton
and Manchester Piccadilly, significantly increasing the capacity
on one of the most popular lines into the city. There will also
be six trains an hour on weekdays between Rochdale and Manchester
Victoria, as well as an hourly Sheffield to Manchester Piccadilly
service every day. In Merseyside and Cheshire, Northern has made
it clear that it will operate two weekday trains every hour
between Southport and Manchester Victoria, two morning peak
services from Southport to Alderley Edge via Manchester
Piccadilly and two evening peak services from Alderley Edge to
Southport via Manchester Piccadilly. A host of other changes and
improvements have been put in place...
...Again, I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hazel Grove
and all colleagues for the contributions they have made. Once
this present phase has been completed, passengers on Northern
rail will benefit significantly through some 1,300 extra services
a week and rail users will have many things to be hopeful about
for the future—not just brand-new trains but improvements to
stations as well to service quality. The Minister of State, my
hon. Friend the Member for Orpington (Joseph Johnson), has spoken
to the chief executive of Transport for the North and the Mayor
of Greater Manchester to underline his and the Department’s
commitment to improving performance for passengers. We continue
to work closely with rail companies to drive down cancellations,
and to support Network Rail and the wider industry in delivering
these significant improvements. I suggest that those are all
things for which we will ultimately be very grateful...
To read the complete debate, CLICK
HERE
