(Stockport) (Lab):...I know
the Minister on a personal level and know that he is a
hard-working Member of Parliament. A couple of weeks ago, I
raised with him that TransPennine Express, which is experiencing
similar problems on the network, is owned by FirstGroup
which owns 70% of the Avanti franchise. The Government should
hold FirstGroup to
account for the failures on Avanti, which are being replicated on
TransPennine Express, because this is simply not good enough. It
is not acceptable. I have tabled a number of written
parliamentary questions on the subject. The fact is that Avanti
has damaged the economy in my constituency as well as the wider
north-west region...
...This might be a rare occasion when I entirely agree with a
Member on the Government Benches, but I entirely agree with the
hon. Member for Ynys Môn that Avanti should not be allowed to run
the franchise beyond April next year. We need to make sure that
the Government do not extend the contract and that the franchise
goes back into public ownership, so that it is run for people and
the planet, rather than for FirstGroup shareholders
to feed off. I will finish there. I could say a lot more, and I
apologise for stepping out earlier—please forgive me, Madam
Deputy Speaker. Once again, I thank the hon. Member for securing
this debate, and I look forward to the other contributions....
(Clwyd West) (Con):...Sadly,
the rail network is currently beset by strikes, but that aside,
north Wales has not enjoyed a decent train service for quite a
long time. For many years, as we have heard, the franchise was
operated by Virgin Trains and the service was generally regarded
as good, reliable and efficient. In 2019, however, the franchise
was granted to Avanti West Coast, which is a joint venture
of FirstGroup and
Trenitalia, as we have heard. Since then, matters have declined
considerably. It is ironic that an Italian company is involved,
because it used to be said that the only decent thing that
Mussolini ever did was make the Italian trains run on time...
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