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Mr. Davey: I am grateful to the Minister for her comments and I am sure that they will be of some reassurance to my constituents and those of my hon. Friend the Member for Richmond Park (Susan Kramer). Can the Minister tell us whether the implication of what she has said is that she supports the general notion that train services from south-west London and the wider south-west area are the favoured option for the use of those platforms both in the short term and possibly in the longer term as the investments are staged?
Ms Buck: I hope that I was able to reassure the hon. Gentleman that there are several layers of use for the platforms, serving the longer routes to Waterloo and the suburban routes that serve the constituencies of the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Richmond Park. We also need to ensure that we have the capacity to use Waterloo for back-up—for the redirection of trains as other major infrastructure projects, such as Crossrail, are undertaken. There are many potential benefits for London commuters, including those in the constituencies of both hon. Members. We have to judge those benefits against the investment available to us to ensure that value for money considerations are applied at all stages.
Susan Kramer: Can the Minister give a tiny clarification? If I understand her correctly, the non-South West Trains schemes are possible diversion schemes to deal with a temporary issue, due to infrastructure projects elsewhere, but the long-term future of those platforms is within the South West Trains remit.
Ms Buck: That is certainly my understanding and I assure the hon. Lady that if I am in any way misinterpreting the information it will be corrected.
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