(Mid Derbyshire)
(Con):...Alstom, which has had various names and iterations, is
the current train building company in Derby, and it plans to
build the first brand-new fleet of hydrogen trains in conjunction
with Eversholt Rail. Similarly, Porterbrook and Rolls-Royce recently
launched the first 100 mph hybrid battery-diesel train on
Chiltern Railways, which links London with Oxford and Birmingham.
It is very important that we look to our history, but that we
also look to the future of the Great British Railways and rail
innovation...
...That is absolutely right. The people who come to work for
Great British Railways will see the benefits of what we do in
Derby and across the region, and that we need better links. We
have links, but we need better ones. It is no good looking at
places such as Birmingham, which has huge innovation and lots of
other businesses, and does not specialise in rail. Derby
specialises in rail, so locating Great British Railways there
would have a huge impact on the economy and the area. That will
add to the levelling up agenda, and Nottingham will benefit from
that. Cities need to play to their strengths. Nottingham has
different strengths, and Derby’s greatest strength is the rail
industry, as well as Rolls-Royce aero-engines,
the nuclear sector and Toyota. We have planes, trains and
automobiles in our area, and huge skills in engineering, which
are very important. Lots of people from Nottingham work in Derby,
and vice versa, because there are opportunities for different
industries to employ people...
(Derby South) (Lab):...As
the hon. Lady has pointed out, we are very much a transport hub;
we are not just a rail hub. Toyota is based in the constituency
of the hon. Member for South Derbyshire (Mrs
Wheeler), Rolls-Royce is
based in my constituency, and a collection of people are working
constructively together all the time. The hon. Member for Mid
Derbyshire touched on the rail forum, which now has some 300
companies from across the UK. I am sure that the Minister will
find herself invited, if she has not been already, to various
functions in the rail industry, and she will find that a
concentration of people are in or have come to Derby and that the
spirit of partnership that we all need is very much present...
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