Oral Answers to Questions

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Thursday 16th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Simon Lightwood]

As somebody who is running the Great North Run this year, I hope that the local highways authority will grip this issue and ensure it is dealt with. The structures fund is open for applications until 3 August.

[Martin Vickers (Brigg and Immingham) (Con)]

The Under-Secretary of State for Transport will be visiting Immingham this afternoon. Does he agree that his journey would be much more convenient if there were a direct train service from King’s Cross to my constituency, and will he join my campaign to ensure that happens?

[Keir Mather]

The hon. Gentleman is a dogged campaigner for providing that rail link and I will report back to him about the quality of my journey. I am excited for the steel signing ceremony ahead of the opening of the new eastern roll-on roll-off terminal at the port of Immingham, which I understand the hon. Gentleman has been a passionate champion of.

Ports and Port Connectivity

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Thursday 25th June 2026 Westminster Hall

[Martin Vickers (Brigg and Immingham) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Jardine. I congratulate the hon. Member for Truro and Falmouth (Jayne Kirkham) on securing this important debate. As the Member representing Immingham, the UK’s largest port by tonnage, and whose constituency includes part of Grimsby—although not the dock estate—I know at first hand that ports are the lifeblood of our coastal communities and the driving force of our national economy.

Immingham and the Humber ports are owned by Associated British Ports and have freeport status. On his visit a few weeks ago, I know the shadow Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr Holden), was impressed by its size and the part it plays in the local economy.

Around 85% by weight of international freight traded with the UK moves by sea. Nowhere is that reality more evident than in the Humber, the UK’s No. 1 gateway for trade by volume, handling around 17% of all UK port traffic, facilitating over £60 billion of trade and supporting 90,000 regional jobs. However, the national figures show a worrying trend: between January and March 2026, total freight tonnage through major ports decreased by 3%. If we want to justify and unlock further investment in port connectivity, we must see stronger economic growth.

The constraint on our growth is not a lack of private capital or market demand. ABP has invested £1 billion across the UK over the last five years, and has billions more ready to deploy. Significant private investment is happening at scale right now in my constituency: in Immingham, the new £200 million Immingham eastern ro-ro terminal is under construction and, at nearby Stallingborough, the 227-acre Helm development is being built out.

The pace and scale of those developments depend entirely on connectivity. While road links are vital—Stallingborough is a brilliant case study of how early local authority road investment successfully unlocked private capital—our future system-wide growth relies on energy and rail infrastructure. First, energy connectivity is critical. Delays in grid capacity and connection timings are harming investment across the UK. Green energy, hydrogen and carbon capture projects cannot proceed without timely access to power. I hope the Minister can outline what steps are being taken to accelerate progress on that.

Secondly, we must address transport links—particularly since, with the new rail Bill, the Government make much of the fact that they will be taking direct control. Rail freight handles about 10% of port throughput nationally. While Immingham connects directly into national supply chains, rail constraints are limiting our ultimate geographic advantage. We must improve capacity, gauge clearance and network resilience across the northern networks if we are to increase economic growth in our port areas. It is critical to increase rail freight capacity serving ports alongside improving road links. Turning to the highway network, the M180 becomes the A180 at Barnetby, and the last few miles into Immingham are overcrowded and rely on an ancient concrete road, which causes great problems for both traffic and the local community.

I will have to move on quickly, Ms Jardine, and skip a couple of pages of my speech, but I note that hon. Members are passionate about their coastal communities. We must do all we can to ensure that the economic growth that they can deliver is indeed delivered. Only with investment from both the private and public sectors can that be achieved.

Small Towns: Transport Links

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd June 2026 Westminster Hall

[Martin Vickers (Brigg and Immingham) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Sir Roger. I congratulate the hon. Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Andy MacNae) on securing this important debate.

My constituency has 11 railway stations, the largest port in the country and an international airport, so people might think that it would be of major interest to the Department of Transport, with the focus entirely on the Brigg and Immingham constituency. Sadly, it is not as easy to get around the constituency as people might imagine. In addition, five railway stations in the Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes constituency also serve my constituents. Nevertheless, getting around my area is not as easy as it should be.

The Father of the House, my right hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh), has outlined our long-running campaign—it has been running for 15 years now—to secure a direct service from Cleethorpes, through my constituency, to London. There are five trains a day from King’s Cross to Lincoln, and it would take a small amount of money to run those Azumas through my constituency before they finish their journey in Cleethorpes. However, as my right hon. Friend pointed out, the Department for Transport has made endless objections and said that such a service cannot be delivered.

The Father of the House also mentioned the service from Gainsborough to Cleethorpes, which passes through Brigg. Brigg, a town of 5,500 people, should have better rail connectivity than it does. It has a railway station, and there used to be a roof over all of it. It was a fantastic station—very much like Gainsborough Central used to be—but sadly it is a pale shadow of its former self and now has only one platform, although, unlike Market Rasen station, it has a bridge to allow people to get over to the other platform, even if that other platform is out of use. Improving rail connections through to Cleethorpes is important. It would help the leisure sector considerably.

The service from Cleethorpes through my constituency to Barton-upon-Humber is a two-hourly service. The Barton Cleethorpes community rail partnership, which is very active and takes a close interest in the operation of the service, has been campaigning to increase that to one service every hour. I urge the Minister to consider that proposal if he can.

Let me return to the Brigg service. We hear much about the creation of Great British Rail, but Northern Rail, which runs the service from Gainsborough to Cleethorpes, has been in public ownership since 2020, so the Minister could have delivered on this. I acknowledge that previous Ministers could also have done so, but it is his job now. I challenge him to say, when he responds to the debate, that he will consider and deliver the proposal.

High Speed 2 Reset

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Tuesday 19th May 2026 Commons Chamber

[Heidi Alexander]

It is not true to say that Wales is getting nothing. At the spending review last year we announced £445 million in direct funding to modernise and upgrade Welsh rail, and only a couple of months ago, in February, the UK Government, with the former Welsh Government, announced a long-term pipeline of rail enhancements that could total up to £14 billion. I would be happy to discuss rail enhancements with the new leadership of the Senedd, and I look forward to having a constructive working relationship with the First Minister and his Cabinet.

[Martin Vickers (Brigg and Immingham) (Con)]

Having chaired the all-party parliamentary group on rail for the last nine or 10 years, I have seen a procession of Ministers and officials come along and give reassurances such as those we have heard from the Secretary of State today. It is hard to believe that her successors will not come to the House in the distant future to talk about further resets of the project. Will the Secretary of State assure us that the spending on HS2 will not affect the announcement she made a few weeks ago about improving other rail services in the north? I know that she would be disappointed if I did not also mention the campaign by me and the Father of the House to improve services to northern Lincolnshire.

[Heidi Alexander]

The hon. Gentleman would expect me to have comprehensive discussions with my colleagues in the Treasury before announcing rail enhancements, and that is what we have done over the past couple of months, whether about Northern Powerhouse Rail—we set out those really ambitious plans at the start of the year—or indeed the anticipated profile of expenditure required over the next 10 years. I assure him that nothing I have announced today changes what I announced in January on Northern Powerhouse Rail.

Oral Answers to Questions

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Thursday 26th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Keir Mather]

My hon. Friend is right in his ambition to ensure that accessibility is there for everyone right across our United Kingdom, including in Wrexham. I will ensure that the Rail Minister provides him with an update in writing on when the ramp is likely to be delivered.

[Martin Vickers (Brigg and Immingham) (Con)]

Further to the pleading of my right hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh) about the train service—[Hon. Members: “On your knees!”] That makes two of us pleading with Ministers for that service, and I know that the hon. Member for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes (Melanie Onn) would happily kneel as well. I remind the Minister that LNER has been in state ownership for a number of years, yet it still cannot provide that service. There is an open access application from Grand Central Rail for a service to Grimsby, so will the Minister assure me that, given all our pleading, the Government will at least look sympathetically on that application?

[Keir Mather]

Although I might not have too much more to add on the question of LNER services, the hon. Member will know that open access decisions are a matter for the operationally independent Office of Rail and Road.

Oral Answers to Questions

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Thursday 12th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)]

The Secretary of State probably knows what I am going to ask. The single best thing we could do to promote economic growth in North East Lincolnshire and Lincolnshire, and particularly in Grimsby, which is one of the largest towns in England without a through-train to London, is to get our through-train to London from Grimsby and Cleethorpes, via Market Rasen and Lincoln. My hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Immingham (Martin Vickers) and I have campaigned relentlessly for this. We went to see Lord Hendy, who gave us a very good interview, didn’t he?

[Martin Vickers (Brigg and Immingham) (Con)]

indicated assent.

Northern Powerhouse Rail

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Wednesday 14th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Heidi Alexander]

I can assure my hon. Friend that we will be having detailed conversations with local partners, including Manchester airport, and we will ensure that any contribution is fair and locally agreed. It is important that organisations that will benefit directly from the improvement of rail links make a contribution, and I look forward to those discussions happening in the coming months and years. He asks about the timing for the Manchester to Birmingham element of the route. I have been clear that the priority for investment is the three stages of Northern Powerhouse Rail. The improvements to Birmingham to Manchester would come after those schemes have completed construction in the 2040s.

[Martin Vickers (Brigg and Immingham) (Con)]

Sadly, we have heard all this before. I admit that some of the last Government’s ambitious proposals have not come to fruition, but the Labour Government are now finding that it is easy to criticise. I do not recall that the criticism coming from Labour Members when we were in power was, “Don’t worry, by 2050 we can solve the problem.” They were saying that they had immediate answers. I suggest that, instead of these ambitious proposals, the Secretary of State announces something that she can deliver. If she shook her petty cash tin, she could find the few thousand pounds she would need to extend the King’s Cross to Lincoln service through to Grimsby and Cleethorpes, and so boost the local economy there—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Come on! The hon. Member seems to be making a statement—there is not even a question in there. Secretary of State, I am sure you can rustle up a quick answer.

Oral Answers to Questions

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Thursday 8th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Heidi Alexander]

My hon. Friend is completely right to raise the issue of affordability for the travelling public. After the relentless fare hikes under the last Government—ticket prices went up by 60%—I think the announcement by this Labour Government will be welcomed by millions of people who are using our trains this year. I will certainly ask the Rail Minister to sit down with my hon. Friend to discuss his amendment. I can assure him that as we set up Great British Railways, affordability will be a key priority for that new organisation, alongside balancing costs for taxpayers.

[Martin Vickers (Brigg and Immingham) (Con)]

While keeping fares down is welcome, as is simplification, the Secretary of State will be aware that London North Eastern Railway introduced what it called a simplified system a few months ago, which has actually resulted in a number of increases, and that is causing considerable concern to my constituents and others. Does the Department intend to review LNER’s ticketing process in due course?

[Heidi Alexander]

Many of the cheapest fares on LNER are still available. In the long-distance fare trials, the vast majority of people will benefit from the simplified ticketing system. Of course, as these trials take place, we will want to review this process and ensure that we are providing good value for money for as many of the travelling public as possible.

Railways Bill

Martin Vickers Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 9th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Martin Vickers (Brigg and Immingham) (Con)]

I speak in my capacity as a constituency Member and also as chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on rail, which submitted a response to the Secretary of State on the changes she is bringing forward.

Will the proposals deliver improved rail freight and passenger services in my constituency and, indeed, across the network? There are lots of “buts”. Restructuring any industry can cause confusion and increase costs, and the billions invested by private companies will now disappear and have to be made up by the taxpayer. If we look back to the years before privatisation, when for much of the time the industry was in decline and desperate for additional resources, we see a vision of the future.

If the Government are to achieve one of their key aims of economic growth, improved transport infrastructure and a rail network that provides for the needs of the freight sector must be a priority. Ministers will have noted that the Rail Freight Group has suggested that the rail freight growth target of 75% by 2050 be put into law and that discounts to encourage use of spare capacity be introduced. Clause 17 of the Bill states that the Secretary of State must set a target and keep it under review. Setting targets is easy; delivering is much more challenging. Businesses in my constituency stress the urgent need for a new east-west freight corridor, and I would like to hear the Minister’s response to that when he sums up.

Rail freight is important, of course, but equally important is passenger traffic. There is nothing more parochial than Transport question time, and now that the Minister is going to take on even more responsibility, that will become much more prevalent. In my constituency, I have been pressing for a direct rail service to be restored between Grimsby and Cleethorpes and King’s Cross since 2011. British Rail withdrew the service in 1992. Local industry and passenger groups are pushing for it. There have been endless possibilities. Grand Central put forward an application to the rail regulator in 2015, which would have been accepted had it stood alone, but it was linked to extending services into North Yorkshire, and that would have taken revenue away from what was then the main franchise holder.

We desperately need the service. It will link Habrough and Barnetby stations in my constituency, which serve both Humberside airport and the port of Immingham, and it will then pass through the constituency of my right hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh) at Market Rasen.

[Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)]

A direct train to London on this line is vital. Grimsby and Cleethorpes form a huge conurbation—probably much the biggest conurbation in the country not to be served by a direct train to London. We have been campaigning for this for so long, and I call on the Minister to just get moving with it. We do not need the Bill: we need action on a direct train from Grimsby and Cleethorpes, through Market Rasen and Lincoln, to London, in order to revive the whole area.

[Martin Vickers]

I thank the Father of the House for that intervention. LNER operates five or six services to Lincoln, and it would be easy to extend those services the extra 30-odd miles to Grimsby and Cleethorpes. There is also the possibility of an open-access operator. Indeed, Grand Central Rail has made another application to provide a service from Cleethorpes through Scunthorpe and Doncaster to King’s Cross. However, judging by recent decisions, the open-access operators have cause for concern, as do those of us who want to see other lines improve as a result of competition. There is no doubt that the east coast main line has greatly benefited from competition, as was mentioned earlier, from Hull Trains and Grand Central Rail. They provide services to provincial towns that have been without a direct service for many years.

Returning to the demand from my own constituency, the Immingham area has two oil refineries, numerous power stations, petrochemical plants and logistics operations, and it is a vital hub for the renewable energy sector. The Minister must recognise that if we are to further develop the area, direct services to King’s Cross are a vital link. The proposals are supported by the Hull and Humber chamber of commerce and large businesses, such as Phillips 66. I can only urge the Minister to get on with it and to give it the okay. Under the new structure, he will be able to do that with just a signature; he should do so.

Oral Answers to Questions

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Thursday 20th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Heidi Alexander]

The hon. Member may wish to suggest to his council that it considers the process for securing money from the structures fund, which we will make an announcement on in the new year, as that fund is designed to help resolve the sorts of situations that he describes in his constituency.

[Martin Vickers (Brigg and Immingham) (Con)]

There is a growing body of evidence about the dangers caused by headlight glare. I know the Department is doing its own research on this. Could the Minister give an indication of when new regulations might be brought forward to reduce the risks?

[Lilian Greenwood]

I thank the hon. Member for that important question. He will know that last year we commissioned groundbreaking independent research to better understand the problems of headlight glare. We are looking at that and considering how we might take it forward, although—as I am sure he knows—the matter is subject to international vehicle regulations.