Rail Infrastructure:
North of England
(Barnsley Central) (Lab): What steps his Department is
taking to help deliver major rail infrastructure improvements in
the north of England.(904454)
The Minister of State, Department for Transport (): We remain committed to delivering the integrated
rail plan, which, as the Chancellor confirmed in the autumn
statement, includes HS2 and delivering the Northern Powerhouse
Rail core network. We are also delivering on the
multibillion-pound Transpennine route
upgrade between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York, which
represents a bigger central Government commitment than Crossrail
in London.
: The Department set up the Northern Transport
Acceleration Council to put rocket boosters on rail upgrades in
the north, but three years on we are no closer to high-speed rail
services between Sheffield and Leeds, there are no more trains on
the Hope Valley line and NTAC has not met in full since May 2022.
Does the Minister think that the appropriate governance
arrangements are in place to enable effective decision
making?
: Yes, I do. The delivery speaks for itself in terms
of what is being done. In recent months, I have been up to visit
the team on the Transpennine route
upgrade. With 76 miles of rail line, 23 stations, 6 miles of
tunnels and 285 bridges or viaducts being upgraded, it is a vast
engineering project. From next year, electric trains will be able
to run between Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge. I remind the
hon. Member that there was a grand total of nine miles of
electrification under the last Labour Government in 13 years. We
are also delivering the Northumberland line, HS2 all the way to
Manchester and various other projects. It is about delivery
rather than talking.
Topical
Questions
(Manchester, Withington) (Lab):
In February and March, nearly a quarter of Transpennine Express
services were cancelled, continuing a pattern that has been going
on for more than a year. In the north, our economy and our
residents are suffering as a result of
TransPennine’s failures. Surely there cannot be
any question of rewarding those failures with a contract
extension.
: Every week I review the figures and performance
related to Transpennine Express.
It has been said before that those figures are not good enough;
there has been some improvement, but they are still not good
enough. As the Prime Minister and my right hon. Friend the
Secretary of State have informed the House, the contract expires
on 28 May 2023. We have made clear that all options are on the
table and a decision will be announced in the House shortly.
