Railways Bill

Matt Rodda Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 9th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Heidi Alexander]

My hon. Friend makes a compelling case, which has also been put to me by Mayor Tracy Brabin and the leader of Bradford council, Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe. I hope to say more about improving connectivity in the north of England in the weeks and months ahead.

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State is making an excellent speech on a very important matter of policy. May I thank her for the outstanding work to reduce the cost of rail travel for my residents in Reading, and residents in many other parts of the country? Will she say a little more about the benefits of contactless, and the significant benefits for residents of smoothing out the very complicated ticketing regime?

[Heidi Alexander]

My hon. Friend is completely right to highlight that. The travelling public want their journeys to be convenient and easy, and the roll-out of pay-as-you-go and contactless ticketing removes some of the friction in the system. Through Great British Railways, we also want to simplify the ticketing structure, because we have a baffling array of millions of fares and ticket types. We need to sort that out, and we will, through this legislation, and through our ambition for the railways.

Oral Answers to Questions

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Thursday 11th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Simon Lightwood]

As I mentioned earlier, the Government are determined to bring, and have every intention of bringing, about legislation on e-scooters. All that will be taken into account in the development of the policy.

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

T7. The £1 billion regeneration scheme at Station Hill in Reading is bringing large numbers of jobs and new housing to Reading town centre, and that is due to the Elizabeth line. Will the Minister update the House on the benefits of this wonderful railway line, both to Berkshire and across the country?

[Heidi Alexander]

Like my hon. Friend, I am a big fan of the Elizabeth line, and I commend him for his dogged support of the scheme on his constituents’ behalf. It is a significant addition to the transport network in London and the south-east, and it has had tangible positive impacts on the supply chain around the country, as well as providing faster journeys into and across London from Reading. I was proud to have personally helped deliver this new railway in my previous role in London, and to see that it has now supported around 55,000 full-time jobs, as well as creating over 1,000 apprenticeship opportunities.

Road Safety Powers: Parish and Town Councils

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Monday 30th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sam Rushworth]

That is exactly the point I am making and I welcome my hon. Friend’s intervention.

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for raising this important matter. On a more serious note, I offer my deepest condolences to two people who lost their lives in a road accident in Reading recently, although I do not want to comment on that because it is under police investigation.

I commend my hon. Friend for the work that he is doing. Many smaller unitary local authorities, such as the borough council in my town, have a great deal of local knowledge, yet they are often held back because they are unable to enforce traffic offences, such as speeding, even when 20 mile per hour zones or other zones have been introduced. As my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing Southall (Deirdre Costigan) said, it would be wonderful if that power could be delegated to them rather than to the police, who are very busy?

[Sam Rushworth]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent intervention. I have mentioned High Grange and Hamsterley—I have only got to “H” on my list, so I had better move on. The residents in Coundon Gate, in my constituency, have to put up with 60 mph traffic driving past just 2 metres from their front windows, and they have asked for traffic calming.

Department for Transport

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Wednesday 25th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Catherine Fookes]

Monmouthshire is a rural county and access to transport is critical, so I am delighted to speak in this estimates day debate. Transport enables people to get to work, school, hospital appointments and, of course, anywhere else they need to be. It also enables me to get up here from Monmouthshire. I have already talked about my favourite bus service, the No. 65, which goes through the lovely villages of Trellech and Devauden, and is incredibly important for allowing young people who cannot drive yet to get to work and so on.

I am delighted with the expenditure outlined in the comprehensive spending review for improving transport links across south Wales and reaching over the border. This has the potential to be an absolute game changer for my constituents. A lack of regular, reliable public transport is holding our county back, and it is frustrating and restrictive for residents. More importantly, it is a major barrier to economic growth, which is the main mission of this Government.

That is why I and Monmouthshire residents were over the moon when, in the spending review, £445 million was committed to Welsh rail. The funding is being made available for the Burns stations—five stations outlined in the Burns review that run between my constituency of Monmouthshire and across to Cardiff. That includes an important station to me: the station of Magor and Undy. Hundreds of new homes have been built at Magor and Undy, and the commuters who live in them do not have a viable option to get to work other than by road. There are major road congestion problems around Magor, particularly on the nearby M4, so this transformative rail funding will see huge benefits for my community and allow huge numbers of people to avoid using a car at all for their commute.

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. My community, like hers, also depends on rail services running from London to south Wales. I want to underline the benefits she is outlining based on my own experience. Reading has benefited hugely from the Elizabeth line and the rebuilding of the station, and that is linked to new homes and businesses clustering around the station. Does she agree that the Government’s strategy, as outlined earlier, brings forward real benefits to many constituencies across the country, and that there are already such examples where Labour councils and the Government are working well together?

[Catherine Fookes]

I strongly agree. It is great to see two Labour Governments working together, here in Westminster and down in Cardiff, to deliver those better transport links between London and Reading and all the way down to south Wales.

It is important that we have Magor and Undy station as soon as possible. It is a walkway station, which is really innovative; people will walk to the station from the surrounding area. It is innovative, it is green and it is an affordable choice to kick-start this important new set of transport links. We have to start somewhere with our five stations down in south Wales, so I am using this debate to strongly suggest that Lord Hendy and the other Transport Ministers support starting the journey at Magor and Undy.

Another key issue we face is the closure to heavy goods vehicles of the M48 bridge over the Severn. That is really impacting businesses around Chepstow, particularly on the Newhouse Farm industrial estate. Drivers are being forced to add miles to their journeys. Of course the safety of our bridges is incredibly important, but the closure of the M48 bridge is bad for businesses, bad for the environment and bad for everyone driving locally, as they face even more congestion. Sadly, the situation is expected to continue until late 2026, but I am delighted that the Roads Minister has confirmed to me today that she is encouraging National Highways to expedite the process as soon as possible. I must stress that current timescales are going to hit Monmouthshire hard, so support for local businesses, many of which are in the logistics sector, and help for National Highways to move faster would be extremely welcome.

We need the bridge fixing and we need our station at Magor. Those are two really big transport issues for Monmouthshire, proving the importance of the UK and Welsh Governments working together to improve connectivity, sort out congestion, reduce vehicle emissions and, ultimately, supercharge economic growth. I wholeheartedly welcome the funding outlined in the spending review to help us take steps in that direction.

HS2 Reset

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Wednesday 18th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Heidi Alexander]

I am aware that the Mayor of the West Midlands and the Mayor of Greater Manchester have put proposals to the Government on this issue. In the mid-2030s, we are likely to see severe capacity constraints between Birmingham and Manchester. We are reviewing those proposals, and I hope to be able to say more on them in the months ahead.

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for the honesty with which she has addressed these very difficult issues. May I ask her to say a little more about the lessons that can be learned from the success of the Elizabeth line—both the far superior leadership and management of the programme, and the economic benefits generated? The £18 billion invested in capital yielded £42 billion in benefits in just the first three years of this amazing piece of infrastructure.

[Heidi Alexander]

While the delivery of the Elizabeth line was one of my proudest achievements as deputy mayor for transport in London, I must admit that it was not without its challenges. The trust between Transport for London and the delivery project, and the transparency and honesty between different parts of the system, were among the finer aspects of how we got the project over the line. It was one of my proudest days when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth opened the Elizabeth line at Paddington shortly before she passed away. There is a lot of learning that we need to take from Crossrail. We are doing that, and we are determined to get on and see this railway opened.

Road Safety and Active Travel to School

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd April 2025 Westminster Hall

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank the hon. Member for Didcot and Wantage (Olly Glover) for his work in securing today’s debate. I realise that time is pressing, so I will try to keep my remarks to two or three key points that affect my constituents within Reading. First, I offer my wholehearted support to the enhancement of walking and cycling around the country, and I also reiterate both the health and environmental benefits of this important work.

There has been some excellent work in my constituency, and I want to pay tribute briefly to some of the people involved in the roll-out of School Streets, which is heavily dependent on a partnership between Reading borough council and local volunteers. That is working extremely well: it is reducing pollution, increasing health and offering young people the chance to walk to the local school in a number of parts of our town—that is making a big difference locally. However, it depends on a lot of good will and I urge more people, if they are able to volunteer, to come forward. The volunteers in some schemes at the moment are under some pressure, and it is important that we grow that project across the town on a much wider basis.

I also want to mention the importance and benefits of building more safe cycle and walking routes. We have had some real success in recent years building a new foot and pedestrian bridge over the River Thames between the two main bridges used by cars and heavy lorries. That has significantly enhanced walking and cycling into the town centre from the north of the town and other routes have been opened up, a number of which have not been accessible for some time. In other local areas in town, that has increased walking and cycling, such as the work along Bath Road, as well as a number of other paths and routes. Innovation is key. We should look at innovative ways of encouraging children to use active travel, such as the wonderful scheme called Beat the Street in my area, which has been extremely successful.

Disruption at Heathrow

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Monday 24th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Heidi Alexander]

The relevant Energy Minister—my hon. Friend the Member for Rutherglen (Michael Shanks), who is sitting next to me—was nodding, which suggests to me that he would be happy to have such a meeting.

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for her statement, and for the way in which she has approached this very serious issue. Heathrow is clearly a vital piece of national infrastructure; it is also central to the economy of west London and the Thames valley, and plays an important part in the attraction of inward investment to our region. As the Secretary of State works with the authors of the two reviews, will she also liaise with the local business community and local authorities in the Thames valley and ensure that they are kept fully abreast of the work that is carried out in the reviews?

[Heidi Alexander]

My hon. Friend has made a fair point, and I am happy to give him that undertaking.

Road Safety: Schools

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Wednesday 29th January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Tristan Osborne (Chatham and Aylesford) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. I thank the hon. Member for Chester South and Eddisbury (Aphra Brandreth) for securing this debate. It is such an important topic, and the data has cross-country significance. She gave a powerful testimony about her own constituent and the impact on their family. That situation is replicated for many of us across our constituencies.

It is deeply depressing that according to Department for Transport statistics, 14% of child fatalities on Great Britain’s roads occur during the morning school run between 7 and 9 o’clock, and 23% happen after school between 3 and 5 o’clock. Even insurance companies are now taking that account. With a 43% reduction in road collisions during the school holidays, we know that it is a significant factor impacting our constituents.

I am a former teacher. The schools I have visited in my constituency, including St Katherine’s school in Snodland, Aylesford school and Walderslade grammar school, have all expressed, through their youth voice, concerns about the dangers associated with getting to school. My hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Chris Vince) mentioned safety, but there are broader concerns around the school run. I want to talk briefly about them, but also about some of the solutions that my council has looked at.

The hon. Member for Chester South and Eddisbury is absolutely correct. Speed is a concern around schools, and I wholly endorse the 20 mph speed limit. We have introduced that around many of our urban schools across Medway, and we have seen a significant reduction in accidents. However, it is not just about speeding. It is also about the conduct of parents when they are picking up and dropping off their children. In some cases, the conduct of those picking up their children is below the standard that would be expected in any other situation, which has led to other safety concerns about, for example, vehicles mounting the pavements and aggression shown towards staff in many schools, with parking assistants sent to resolve the issue. That is an increasing concern, as is the amount of pollution outside schools.

Medway council has looked at a couple of schemes related to the safer streets initiative that was introduced under the previous Government. The council won £300,000 to introduce a school streets initiative. That initiative has not yet been mentioned, but in short, it restricts access to school streets completely during pick-up and drop-off times by using automatic number plate recognition camera technology, which reduces the volume of traffic to only the residents and businesses using that street. It dramatically improves road safety, reduces pollution and encourages active transport, so it serves as a real boon to getting kids out of the car and into a more active transport mode.

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

I commend the hon. Member for Chester South and Eddisbury (Aphra Brandreth) for her work on this important issue, and I offer my condolences to the family of her constituent. My hon. Friend is making an excellent point, and there are examples of such schemes around the country. There are several in Reading, and we have certainly benefited from exactly that type of measure. However, I gently suggest that the wider area needs to be considered. There can sometimes be a build-up of traffic on the edge of the school streets zone. My experience of the Reading examples is that integrating such schemes with other measures, such as the 20 mph zone, can help to reduce the risk of accidents and pollution. Does my hon. Friend agree with that point?

Road Safety

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Tuesday 7th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Andy MacNae]

Again, I agree 100% with my hon. Friend. The role of communities is absolutely vital.

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

In my own area, there is a serious problem with a lack of co-operation between Oxfordshire county council, as the neighbouring local authority, and Reading borough council. Sadly, Oxfordshire, despite requests from Reading, has allowed heavy goods vehicles to go through a Reading suburb called Caversham and into Reading town centre when they could be diverted on to much safer routes. There have been repeated requests for Oxfordshire to work more constructively with Reading. Does my hon. Friend agree with me that there should be greater emphasis on co-operation between neighbouring local authorities as part of this preventive approach, which he is so ably describing, to try to avoid unnecessary injuries and deaths?

Oral Answers to Questions

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Thursday 21st November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Louise Haigh]

Of course, a priority for this Government is to keep public transport affordable, but our absolute priority is to fix the mess in the railways that we inherited after 14 years of under-investment, decline and putting passengers last in a broken system.

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

8. What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the condition of local roads.

[Mr Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

9. What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the condition of local roads.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Louise Haigh)]

The Government are determined to improve the condition of local roads. We had a manifesto commitment to support councils in fixing up to 1 million more potholes per year. We are going above and beyond that manifesto commitment: last month’s Budget confirmed an increase of £500 million for next financial year to fix Britain’s crumbling roads.

[Matt Rodda]

I pay tribute to Lord Prescott. I welcome the Secretary of State’s announcement of this vital funding. Will she comment on the excellent work carried out by Reading borough council, which has started resurfacing large sections of road? That not only creates a smoother surface for drivers, but has been proven to save money in the long run.

[Louise Haigh]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the excellent practices being undertaken by Reading borough council. That is the kind of innovation that we need to see across the country—not just fixing and repairing potholes, but ensuring that we prevent them and improve the quality and lifespan of our local roads.