East Midland Railway Collision
Chris Curtis Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Heidi Alexander
I do agree with my hon. Friend. My thoughts are also with the driver of the other train and their family, as well as the on board train crew, some of whom were injured. It is absolutely vital that we in the Government do everything we can to make sure our railways are as safe as they possibly can be. We will be looking closely at the RAIB report when it comes, and I can assure him and his constituents that we will learn any necessary lessons and make any necessary changes.
Chris Curtis (Milton Keynes North) (Lab)
I join the Secretary of State in offering my deepest condolences to the family and friends of the driver, Shaun Burton. I thank her, the Rail Minister and staff at East Midlands Railway for keeping us updated in what I am sure were very difficult circumstances on Friday evening. As someone who represents the railway town of Wolverton, I know how such incidents have an impact on people right across the rail community. Will the Secretary of State join me in paying tribute to the emergency services, including brave firefighters from Milton Keynes, who acted quickly and professionally in the aftermath of this tragic incident?
Heidi Alexander
I will, of course, join my hon. Friend in thanking the firefighters from Milton Keynes, who were very fast on to the scene. I would also like to thank all those from Network Rail who are involved in recovering the trains. Some Members may have seen the images of a road being built through a field, as we speak, to erect a crane to be able to lift the carriages off the tracks. This was a very serious incident, and I thank all those involved in responding to it and seeing the recovery through.
Oral Answers to Questions
Chris Curtis Excerpts(1 year, 1 month ago)
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Chris Curtis (Milton Keynes North) (Lab)
Kanishka Narayan (Vale of Glamorgan) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Transport (Heidi Alexander)
Economic growth is this Government’s top priority, and the Chancellor put growth right at the heart of her spending review, announcing more than £92 billion of capital investment in transport infrastructure to give people access to jobs and opportunities. This includes long-term funding for our largest city regions, billions of pounds of investment in roads, hundreds of millions of pounds for walking and cycling, and delivering transformative projects such as the trans-Pennine route upgrade and East West Rail. This will make a real difference to people’s lives up and down the country, now and in the future, showing the difference a Labour Government make.
Chris Curtis
Every French city with a population of more than 150,000 has a mass rapid transport system, yet over 30 UK cities or towns of that size still lack it. Research from Centre for Cities shows that poor connectivity holds back growth and productivity by limiting mobility. A key reason why we have so few is cost, because building a kilometre of track in the UK is twice as expensive as the European average. Can the Secretary of State set out what her Department is doing to bring down costs and help kickstart a tram-building revolution?
Heidi Alexander
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that matter with me in person a few days ago and for sending me further information on the report and the research. Trams do have the potential to support growth at much lower cost than heavy rail, but he is right that the cost per kilometre of new tramline is much more expensive in the UK than elsewhere in Europe. I have asked my officials to look into what we can do in this area as we look to unlock growth across the UK.