Westminster Hall
Wednesday 1 July 2009
[Mr. Jim Hood in the Chair]
Railways (North of England)
Motion made, and Question proposed, That the sitting be now adjourned.—(Mark Tami.)
9.30 am
Ms Angela C. Smith (Sheffield, Hillsborough) (Lab): At the outset, may I say that I appreciate the difficult circumstances of the debate? I will not be referring to this morning’s news about the east coast main line being taken into public ownership, principally because I understand that a statement will be made to the House later today. It is only right that the House itself is given the first word from Ministers on the issue, and I shall respect the rights of the Commons and the strong views of the new Speaker in that regard.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Chris Mole): I echo the point made by my hon. Friend. A statement will be made in the other place at 3.30 pm today and repeated in this House by the Minister of State, Department for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tooting (Mr. Khan). It will set out our response to this morning’s statement from National Express on its east coast franchise. I am sure that hon. Members will be able to ask questions at that time.
Ms Smith: I thank the Minister for that intervention. It is only fair to put on the record some recognition of the levels of investment in rail during recent years. As Lord Adonis said in the transport manifesto that he presented to the Transport Times conference last week, more than £150 billion has been invested in transport infrastructure over the past decade. Network Rail has made it clear that during the next five years, we will embark on an investment programme that is bigger than any seen for a generation. In many ways, we are all aware that the time has come for railways. In recent years, we have seen substantial growth in passenger demand and it is anticipated that more is to come. There is increasing recognition of the role that rail can play in reducing our dependence on carbon, which is an important context for the debate. Last week, Lord Adonis again talked about
“making low carbon travel a better and steadily more viable and attractive choice within, and between, different modes of transport”.
Obviously, that will be extremely important in future years.
However, that record of investment in rail and recognition of the need to continue investing has to be set in the context of a deal for the north of England that is less than satisfactory—in other words, the north has not had its fair share of the cake. Statistical analyses of 2009 public expenditure show that spending per head on transport was £783 in London. However, in Yorkshire and Humber the figure was just £213, and in the north- east it was even less at £206, although the north-west was relatively lucky in receiving £278 per head. The figures show that spending in three of the regions I have
mentioned was more than three and a half times less than it was in London. In the case of Manchester, it was three times less than London.
Northern Rail has had no new carriages for the past five years, whereas franchises providing commuter services in London and the south-east have had 580 new carriages over the same period. In 2007, approximately a third of the rolling stock serving demand for rail travel in the northern passenger transport areas was 20 years old or more. In 2009—this year—that proportion will have increased to around 40 per cent. of the fleet.
Overcrowding is becoming a real issue in the north of England. Some 60 per cent. of all peak-hour arrivals on Northern Rail services carry standing passengers, and in Manchester more than half of all trains in the peak period have standing passengers. In Merseyside that figure is more than a third and in Newcastle and Sheffield the numbers are substantial and increasing. The reason is the considerable growth in rail journeys between 1995-96 and 2007-08. Rail journeys increased by 70 per cent. in west Yorkshire, 57 per cent. in Greater Manchester, 43 per cent. in south Yorkshire, 37 per cent. in Merseyside, and 20 per cent. in Tyne and Wear.
Between 2006-07 and 2007-08, TransPennine Express saw numbers of passenger journeys increase by 11 per cent., which is second only to levels of growth experienced by First Capital Connect. The White Paper, “Delivering a Sustainable Railway”, which was published in summer 2007, conceded that in relation to conurbations outside London, there has been rail passenger demand growth of 60 per cent. over the past decade, and that had been the norm for those cities. By comparison, the figure is 32 per cent. in London. Network Rail estimates that by 2025, many lines across the network will have no further capacity, even after the currently planned investment has been implemented.
For hon. Members who represent the north, the weighting of rail investment in favour of London and the south-east is clearly unfair, especially given the evidence of upturns in demand in the north and the growing problems with capacity in our great northern cities. What needs to be done to redress the situation? Well, obviously, first of all we need a commitment from the Minister that forthcoming decisions on rail investment will be used to balance spending allocations by focusing on the needs of the north of England.
We need a commitment to the Manchester hub. Some £175 million was spent preparing the Crossrail project. We need a serious commitment soon to developing and funding Manchester hub proposals. Why? Because we are dealing with capacity constraints in Manchester that are absolutely key to extending capacity on the current network across the north and to building new capacity in the interests of the whole of the north. Perhaps it should be termed the northern hub. I suggested that to Radio Manchester this morning—although I do not think it entirely liked the idea. Doing so would ensure that all northern regions realise how important it is to support the Manchester hub, as it is now known, in representations to the Government.
We also need investment across the northern network in a whole range of ways, including work on the Leeds to Selby and York corridor. During peak hours, many trains are close to or, in a few cases, beyond nominal capacity on that corridor. Significant overcrowding is forecast if additional capacity is not provided. Network Rail is planning improvements in capacity on the line,
but in the long term it envisages that the corridor east of Leeds will need significant enhancements to deal with potential growth—for example, increasing tracking to four tracks on part of the route or carrying out infill electrification.
As a Sheffield MP, I do not want to obsess too much about Leeds, but, in recent years, the Leeds to Manchester route has also experienced rapid growth in demand for fast services across the Pennines. Forecasts of future growth suggest significant overcrowding is likely and that demand management will be necessary unless additional capacity is introduced. Again, some minor capacity improvements are planned by Network Rail, but Network Rail itself thinks that more line speed improvements are required and that significant capacity enhancement is needed if we are to deal with the demand on that line.
I shall now turn to Sheffield—the greatest city of them all, in my view. In the medium to long term, we expect significant increase in demand on the route from Sheffield to Doncaster. In terms of both passenger and inter-modal freight traffic, we need to think seriously—this is Network Rail’s view—about four-tracking part of the route and having enhanced access to Rotherham Central and an improved track layout at Doncaster. In addition, it is the view of the South Yorkshire passenger transport executive that a small project costing in the region of £15 million for a pilot tram-train from Meadowhall to Rotherham would be an incredibly wise and useful investment on the part of the Department for Transport.
Turning to the midland main line, it is essential to shorten journey times for direct services from Sheffield to London St. Pancras. It is ludicrous that it should take more than two hours to travel the 165 miles from Sheffield to London. Of course, electrification of the line could increase the capacity for carriage of freight.
Finally, there are the big projects that the north needs, such as High Speed 2. We have made the case repeatedly in Westminster Hall debates, and Northern Way has clearly made the case for two high-speed lines north to south, and for a new trans-Pennine rail link between the east and west of the country. Members would expect me to mention the Woodhead route at this point, but it is likely that that would be the best means of building a trans-Pennine link.
Mr. Clive Betts (Sheffield, Attercliffe) (Lab): I am sorry that I cannot be with my hon. Friend for the whole of this debate. I congratulate her on succeeding in securing it. As well as the reduction of congestion and the benefits to the economy, does she accept that there would also be major benefits to the environment from two of those projects? First, electrification of the midland main line would result in a cleaner railway and, secondly, high-speed rail lines serving both sides of the country would, we hope, attract people away from short-haul air transport. That would benefit the environment considerably.
Ms Smith: I agree with my hon. Friend about the environmental impact of high-speed rail. It was made absolutely clear at the Transport Committee last week in evidence from witnesses that the likely impact of high-speed rail would be to reduce short-haul domestic flights. There is a rock-solid case for such investment.
The economic case for high-speed rail twin routes going up the east and west coasts is based on estimated agglomeration benefits of £10 billion, with the benefit of increases in gross domestic product focused primarily on the north. Nevertheless, that £10 billion represents a benefit to the whole economy, partly because the establishment of high-speed links between the north and the south, and the east and the west, would help to integrate the national economy, thereby benefiting London and the south-east as well as the north of England more generally. It would help in many ways to close the gap between productivity in the north and the national average, which at present is £30 billion.
Furthermore, there is an argument that establishing new, fast links between the east and the west of the country could help to reduce congestion more generally. One of the problems with the rail network is that it runs primarily from north to south. The more we develop links from east to west, the more we can encourage business traffic and growth in those directions, helping to reduce congestion more generally.
My final point about high-speed rail is that the agglomeration benefit of establishing high-speed lines to the north would be more than twice what the DFT estimates for the wider economic benefits of Crossrail and Thameslink put together.
Will the north get its fair share? That is a fair question, given the distribution of rail investment so far, the difficulties that many contemplate will emerge from the next round of public spending allocations and the spending commitments already made on Crossrail of at least £16 billion, if not more; to Thameslink of £5.5 billion for an upgrade; and to the Olympic Delivery Authority, which has a transport budget of £897 million. The key worry for those of us who represent the north is that our investment will be squeezed to protect those budgets.
We are worried because early indications of DFT thinking are not encouraging. If Members cast their minds back to January 2008, they will remember that the DFT set out proposals to implement high-level output specification. Increased rolling stock was to be provided to each train operator. Northern Rail was promised 182 new vehicles, including 24 electrics and 158 diesels. In an update in July 2008, those figures were confirmed, yet PTEs have been in detailed discussion with the DFT for some months about the plan for Northern Rail and, although the offer is still under development, it is clear that the offer from DFT is now, at best, for little more than half the 182 carriages previously offered.
Dr. Brian Iddon (Bolton, South-East) (Lab): Does my hon. Friend agree that it is not just the quantity of rolling stock, but the quality? Some of the rolling stock that passes through Bolton Trinity street station should, frankly, be scrapped. We need replacement carriages as well as additional carriages to meet the extra demand.
Ms Smith: I totally agree with my hon. Friend. As I said earlier, approximately one third of the rolling stock that serves demand for rail travel in the northern areas is more than 20 years old. That is something that really puts people off travelling on trains. If the stock is old, and if capacity on the network is restricted, people will not use the railways—they will stay in their cars.
The DFT cites lower demand forecasts as a result of the recession, yet PTEs have not observed any significant change in the number of local rail passengers travelling in peak periods. They believe that is probably because of suppressed demand caused by the lack of previous investment in capacity. That is the irony of the current position, and it absolutely underlines the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton, South-East (Dr. Iddon). On the basis of the reduced offer, PTEs estimate that many trains will be very crowded by 2014; for example, it is estimated that by then, 30 trains in Manchester will be running at more than 100 per cent. capacity.
The reduced offer is not acceptable, and it suggests key questions. Why the reduction? We need answers quickly to that question. Has the overall number of 1,300 additional carriages nationally been reduced as well, in line with the reduction for Northern Rail? How does the DFT plan to meet the high-level output specification for reducing crowding in major cities with such a reduction? What evidence can the DFT put on the table to demonstrate that the recession has reduced the number of people travelling in peak periods in the major cities outside London?
Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle) (Lab): I am sorry to interrupt my hon. Friend’s excellent speech. Given the news today about National Express and the possible loss of the franchise, would it not be helpful if the Minister could give us an update on the present situation when he winds up?
Ms Smith: My hon. Friend may not have heard the Minister’s initial comments to the effect that there will be a statement to the whole House this afternoon. We undertook not to say anything on the basis that it would undermine the rights of the House.
Mr. Martlew: I apologise for being late.
Ms Smith: We need evidence from the DFT to demonstrate that the recession has reduced the number of people travelling in peak periods in the major cities outside London.
I look forward to the Minister’s answers to those questions, and to the biggest question of all: does the apparent pulling back from capacity investment by the DFT indicate that the north will continue to be disadvantaged in terms of rail investment, or will Ministers commit to redressing the balance?
9.49 am
Sir Alan Beith (Berwick-upon-Tweed) (LD): I congratulate the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hillsborough (Ms Smith) on securing this timely debate, and on focusing so helpfully on the gap in railway investment between the north and the south, and on our needs. As she acknowledged, the Minister said he was somewhat inhibited as to what he could say this morning about National Express, but I have no such inhibition. I do not need to be prevented from expressing my frustration at the situation that has arisen, before I turn to the investment issues of other companies.
As far as National Express is concerned, we have been through all this before. We went through GNER’s walking away from the franchise. We cannot go on like
this, because the east coast main line suffers a degree of instability as a consequence, and there is an accompanying effect on the morale of the dedicated staff, many of whom have now worked for both companies and have had such a frustrating time. It was a tragedy when we lost GNER, which was a standard-setter for customer service in the industry. It was a loss to the industry when GNER was unable to continue. It suffered from one of the features of the franchise system, which is winner’s curse: the pressure to put in a high bid to get a franchise regularly leads companies to offer or accept terms they cannot subsequently fulfil. Now that has happened to National Express as well, and the problem has been exacerbated by the effect of the recession on rail travel.
During National Express’s tenure there has been some reduction in customer service standards on trains. There has been some improvement in punctuality, which is welcome and which the company made a priority, but there have also been problems owing to the investment concerns that the hon. Lady mentioned. There are a lot of problems with National Express’s inherited rolling stock, particularly toilets and catering vehicles failing and coaching stock having to be taken off trains, leading to shorter, overcrowded or cancelled trains. This is old rolling stock, which appears to present some serious maintenance problems. That has worsened the customer experience for a lot of people over the past few years.
We will learn later today what is to happen. I assume that we will be into another management contract and then another round of bidding, and somebody else will get winner’s curse and we will have another episode such as the ones we have gone through twice before. However, I sincerely hope not, because we need some stability on this vital, heavily used rail service that is, as the hon. Member for Sheffield, Attercliffe (Mr. Betts) said earlier in relation to other rail services, extremely important environmentally, because it transfers significant numbers of people who would otherwise fly. Passengers in Newcastle and Edinburgh regularly choose whether to take the train or to fly. Nowadays, flying is often cheaper than taking the train. It is in all our interests that the rail service continues to draw custom that would otherwise go to air services. So we will wait to see what happens later today.
It was not quite clear from the Minister’s intervention how the timing will be managed. Do we assume that, because the primary statement will be made by the Secretary of State in the House of Lords, the statement in the House of Commons will not take place until afterwards? The Minister nods, so I will presume—unless he contradicts me—that business in the Commons will be interrupted at some point this afternoon by a statement.
Let me mention some other franchises that affect the north-east of England in particular. The hon. Lady referred extensively to Northern Rail, which is a major provider of services across the north-east of England. The part of the Northern Rail franchise that most affects my constituency is the one that gets the oldest trains—the Morpeth-Chathill service, which features a train that stops at a place where nobody is allowed to get on it. I will mention that train later. On Northern Rail’s investment in rolling stock, it is important that we eventually get rid of the old the Pacer-type trains, which are still used on some services. Northern Rail has significant investment needs.
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