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To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are giving
to connecting communities and economies in the north of
England by the re-opening of railway lines.
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Transport (Lord Callanan) (Con)
My Lords, the Government are investing billions of pounds
across the north of England in order better to connect
communities and build the northern powerhouse. In the spirit
of devolution, it is of course for local enterprise
partnerships and local transport authorities to decide
whether the reopening of a railway line is the best way to
address the economic needs of their area and to secure
appropriate funding, including that made available by the
Government.
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(LD)
My Lords, there are ambitious plans for substantial
investment in new high-speed railway lines in the north of
England, but the Minister will be aware that many towns have
been missed off the network. There are missing links that
need to be put back in to provide an ordinary service in some
of those towns—none more so than the Colne-Skipton link,
which can provide not only a local service of benefit to
local people in the region but a new strategic east-west
route between the west coast and the east coast, particularly
for freight. There has been a 20-year campaign for this, with
half promises from government at all levels. Will the
Government step in and put some oomph behind this proposal?
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I can see that that position has widespread support. First, I
thank the noble Lord for his interest and considerable
advocacy on this subject. We also pay tribute to the work of
the Skipton-East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership—that
well-known group—in raising the profile on the case for
reopening this line. Local partners share a desire to improve
connectivity across the Pennines. Their recent connectivity
report suggested that there may be economic benefits in doing
so, and they will be actively involved in the Transport for
the North corridor study to consider potential solutions.
Through growth deals, we have provided the north of England
with almost £3.5 billion of local growth funding, which is
supporting local authorities and LEPs to deliver more than
150 local transport schemes.
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(Con)
My Lords, my noble friend will be aware of the North York
Moors railway line, of which I have the privilege to be
honorary president. The fact that the line was able to access
the national rail line to Whitby has opened up tourism, and
the number of people visiting the railway has risen
phenomenally. Will my noble friend share this with his
ministerial colleagues to look favourably on Heritage Lottery
Fund grant applications for such lines in the future?
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I am sure there is considerable benefit to the North
Yorkshire communities in the reopening and additional service
provision on these lines, and I am happy to support my noble
friend’s assertion.
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(Lab)
My Lords, the Minister is aware that one of the key facets of
the northern powerhouse is rail connectivity. Two years ago,
plans were announced by the Government for the
electrification of the line from Manchester to Leeds. Reports
over the weekend have suggested that those plans have been
shelved. Is that correct?
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My Lords, we will be announcing our proposals for that line
in due course, but let me just say that we are investing more
than £1 billion in the great north rail project, which is
transforming rail travel for passengers across the north up
to 2019 as part of our over £13 billion investment in rail
infrastructure.
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Lord (LD)
My Lords, opening lines is one thing; opening stations on
lines that are already open ought to be considerably easier.
There was the line between Halifax and Huddersfield reopening
in 2000. A railway station was built in Brighouse, and we
were promised one for Elland, but we are still waiting—17
years later. Once the business case has really been made, and
expectations have been created, how long does the Minister
think that folk should have to wait for this station?
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Clearly, the provision of additional stations on important
local lines is vital, but I shall have to write to the noble
Lord on the detailed business case for that particular
station.
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(Lab)
My Lords, no doubt the Minister has a list of all the
potential local railways, so may I ask him to look at the
case for the Penarth to Keswick line? It is one of the
examples of where Beeching vandalised this country, so let us
put that right.
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The noble Lord is right: I do have an extensive list.
However, I do not see that one on it, but I will write to him
on that particular case.
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(Lab)
My Lords, I remind the House of my railway interests in the
register. The Minister will be struck by the support that
exists all over the House for the reopening of rural railway
lines. Can I draw his attention to the report by the
Association of Train Operating Companies in 2009, which
looked at communities with more than 15,000 inhabitants, and
at the potential for reopening services where they used to
exist? There were 14 lines of the highest priority where
there was either an existing freight line or a disused line.
No Government have yet acted on that report, so will the
Minister now please have a look at it?
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I will certainly have a look at the report, now that the
noble Lord has drawn my attention to it.
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(Con)
My Lords, the Minister is well aware of the general feeling
in the country that HS2 is a waste of time. Can I urge him to
review it urgently because, if common sense prevails and that
silly scheme is scrapped, there will be plenty of money for
all these very sensible schemes in the north?
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I am, of course, aware of the noble Lord’s passionate
opposition to HS2. However, I am afraid that on this one
occasion I will have to disagree with him, because I think it
is an excellent scheme and we will be going ahead with it.
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(Lab)
Will the Minister now answer the direct question of my noble
friend about the reports in the press? Are they true or not?
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No, they are not true. We are re-evaluating the scheme, but
we will be going ahead with it and we will publish our
proposals in detail on it in due course.
