Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Grayling and Paula Sherriff

Thursday 11th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

There is a lot of discussion about HS2 and I simply wish to state again today the Government’s commitment to the project; it is, I think, supported across the House and I welcome that support. The point about HS2 is that we have a rail system that is bursting at the seams and we have to create extra capacity on it. By creating the extra capacity on HS2 and taking the express trains off the conventional lines and putting them on to HS2, we will free space for more commuter services into the cities affected and to places such as Nuneaton.

[Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)]

The rail service offered by TransPennine Express to my constituents is frankly abysmal. If trains turn up at all, they are usually late, overcrowded and far too short. No more warm words, Secretary of State: what are you doing about it here and now?

[Mr Speaker]

I am not doing anything about it at all, but I hope that the Secretary of State might be.

Rail Review: Terms of Reference

Debate between Chris Grayling and Paula Sherriff

Thursday 11th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I understand my hon. Friend’s frustration. A number of station projects did not make it in the control period that is about to end. We have funding for accessibility projects in the next control period, and I will certainly want to see those that are needed and have already been promised get prominence in the list of projects that we assemble to use that money.

[Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)]

In his statement, the Secretary of State alluded to the utter chaos that we had seen in the north during the summer. Unfortunately, things have not improved measurably for my constituents. Will he take this opportunity to tell us exactly what dialogue he is having with the managing director of TransPennine Express trains? I understand that he has just received a significant pay increase, which appears as if he is being rewarded for failure.

[Chris Grayling]

My officials and I are in conversations with those overseeing the railways in the north all the time. Clearly, there have been improvements. TransPennine Express had issues with the timetabling of Northern, which had a knock-on effect on its services. That situation has improved. There is further to go, but the hon. Lady’s constituents will benefit from the arrival of new trains this autumn. One of the issues on TransPennine Express is capacity. More capacity will be coming on through. I am always happy to talk to her off line because I want to ensure that local problems are dealt with. She knows that she can always collar me in the Division Lobby—we are not always in the same Lobby, of course, but she is always welcome to grab me in the corridor if there are any particular issues.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Grayling and Paula Sherriff

Thursday 5th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I am obviously aware of the pressures on the A38 and, indeed, of the pressures on roads north and west from Plymouth. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for South East Cornwall (Mrs Murray) who, last week, made a very strong argument to me when I visited Cornwall for improvements to the west of Plymouth. That is something that we are looking at very carefully.

[Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)]

11. What steps he is taking to ensure the provision of compensation to passengers affected by recent rail disruption.

Rail Timetabling

Debate between Chris Grayling and Paula Sherriff

Monday 4th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I am very clear that I expect GTR to deliver an improvement to the current situation as a matter of real urgency. If it does not do so, it will lack the credibility to continue as operator.

[Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)]

What a mess! How would the Secretary of State respond to my constituent who contacted my office this morning to say that he has already had to use a significant portion of his annual leave allocation because he has arrived at work hours late every single day over the past couple of weeks? Given the debacle that we have seen on the trains recently, with not just this situation but the delayed electrification and the problems on the east coast main line, does the Secretary of State believe that he has the competence to sort this out?

[Chris Grayling]

What I would say to the hon. Lady’s constituent is that I am very, very sorry and that we will have a compensation scheme. Somebody has to sort this out, and that is what I am going to do.

East Coast Main Line

Debate between Chris Grayling and Paula Sherriff

Wednesday 16th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

The equivalent contribution since the current franchise started is roughly—if I remember correctly; this is just from memory—£200 million more for the taxpayer. It is certainly the case that the franchise has been contributing more to the taxpayer since Virgin Trains took over than was the case when it was under state control. The Labour party always seems conveniently to forget that, but it is the truth.

[Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)]

I receive daily communications from constituents who are frankly fed up with antiquated, unreliable and overcrowded trains, including, but not exclusively, on the east coast main line. The Secretary of State has long promised improvements in investment but has failed to deliver. When will he get a grip on rail in the north?

[Chris Grayling]

I keep saying to the hon. Lady that what she wants is a Government who are providing brand new trains. The first are already being introduced. On the trans-Pennine route, the completely refurbished new trains are already in operation. The first of the new-build trains are due to arrive within a matter of weeks. I expect the first Pacer trains to go to the scrapyard later this year. The new Hitachi-built trains arrive on the east coast main line later this year. The railways are about to go through the biggest transformation of their rolling stocks since the steam engine. I hope she and her constituents will welcome that.

Rail Announcement

Debate between Chris Grayling and Paula Sherriff

Tuesday 27th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)]

Further to the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield (Mary Creagh), my constituency neighbour, can the Secretary of State confirm that Virgin-Stagecoach will be allowed to rebid for the east coast franchise when the contract is put out to tender, because that appears to be verging on the ridiculous?

[Chris Grayling]

I think that the hon. Lady has misunderstood our plans. From 2020 we are going to do things completely differently on the east coast main line; we will not be using the current bidding process. We are shaping a public-private partnership. It might be a public-private partnership that brings investment in digital rail, and it might have a completely different corporate structure. We are working through that longer -term plan now while preparing to put in place the intermediate arrangements. It is not a question of who will or will not be allowed to bid, because we have not even decided what the process will be.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Grayling and Paula Sherriff

Thursday 1st March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)]

1. What assessment he has made of the equity of levels of transport spending by region.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Chris Grayling)]

We do not allocate transport funding on a per head of population basis; our decisions are based on a rigorous and fair appraisal process that ensures that spending goes where it is most needed and where it delivers the greatest value for money. Recent analysis by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority shows that planned central Government transport investment over the next four years is evenly balanced, with £1,039 per head of population in the north, compared with £1,029 in the south.

[Paula Sherriff]

May I first take this opportunity to thank all those involved in keeping our transport systems going in this inclement weather? I am sure that fellow Yorkshire MPs will have shared my surprise at the Secretary of State’s recent article in The Yorkshire Post, in which he claimed that spending in the north was somehow greater than that in the south—if, through a rather imaginative calculation, we ignore London. Does he agree that simply spinning figures will not fix our archaic northern railway systems or get northern commuters to work on time?

[Chris Grayling]

I echo the hon. Lady’s comments about those who are working hard to keep the transport system open today; we are very grateful to them all. In a week when the Labour party has already had issues with its use of statistics, she should look up the official statistics from the independent Infrastructure and Projects Authority, which show that planned central Government spending is higher in the north than it is in the south.

Rail Update

Debate between Chris Grayling and Paula Sherriff

Monday 5th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

It is really important that we do so. We have in fact already changed the way the franchising structure works for the most recent franchise. The south-eastern franchise, which is out to tender at the moment, has a different approach to the issue of risk sharing. We have to be careful: on the one hand, we must seek to get best value from the franchises, but on the other hand, we need to make sure that they are resilient. It is a balance, and we have to try to get this right, but we are seeking to improve the balance between the risk to quality and the revenue we receive.

[Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)]

While the east coast main line was under public ownership between 2009 and 2015, passenger satisfaction, punctuality and reliability reached record high levels. Has the case not therefore been made for renationalisation based on these principles?

[Chris Grayling]

Except that since the line returned to being operated by Stagecoach, passenger satisfaction levels have risen, the number of employees has risen, the return to the taxpayer has risen and the number of services has risen. In my judgment, the day-to-day operation of this railway has proved very successful over the past two or three years, even though its finances have been disastrous.

Rail Update

Debate between Chris Grayling and Paula Sherriff

Wednesday 29th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

There is a curious conundrum in this. We hear so much uncertainty from Labour about what they think about Brexit: they seem to want to stay in the single market and continue to operate in the traditional way, but they do not want to work with train companies from other countries. That is a bit illogical.

I am delighted that we as a Government are finally investing—in a way that the hon. Gentleman’s party did not—in rail in the north-east. The investment in trains on the Metro and the plans to extend it are the right things to do to help his constituency and the economy of the north-east, and I am very proud to be able to deliver them. It is also worth saying that the private sector franchise on the east coast main line has been contributing more to the Treasury than the public sector one did.

[Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)]

I wrote to the Secretary of State on 23 October and eagerly await his response. My constituents are, frankly, fed up with chronically overcrowded and unreliable trains and substandard services. What action is being taken to monitor the performance delivered by the train operating companies?

[Chris Grayling]

The good thing from the hon. Lady’s point of view is that, although she is right that her constituency has old, overcrowded trains that are not long enough, we are replacing them with new longer trains. That will make a transformational difference to the travelling experience of her constituents and others right across the north.