Lord Blunkett
Main Page: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Blunkett's debates with the Department for Transport
(5 years, 9 months ago)
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Baroness Sugg
My Lords, I certainly agree that passengers expect an adequate, affordable service with capacity, and we are working towards that. A record £47.9 billion is being invested in our railways over the next control period, which should bring improvements to connectivity across the country.
Lord Blunkett (Lab)
My Lords, here is a bit of a googly but the Minister will be well up for it. Given that the rationale for the substantial worsening of running times from Sheffield to St Pancras and intermediate stations was the large increase in train availability for London and the south-east, will she ask the inquiry now to restore the running times from Sheffield to London so that we can have a service back?
Baroness Sugg
My Lords, I am not sure I recognise that as the reason for the issues in Sheffield. We are investing in the biggest upgrade of the line since it was completed in 1870. We are working closely with Network Rail on the upgrade and we expect to deliver it in 2020, which will improve train times. We are working continually with the train operating company to ensure that the new timetable implementation is delivered successfully.