John Bercow
Main Page: John Bercow (Speaker - Buckingham)Department Debates - View all John Bercow's debates with the Department for Transport
High-speed Rail
John Bercow Excerpts(10 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr McLoughlin
It is essential that all these suggestions are considered. HS2 will fundamentally change capacity on our railway lines. It will give us many more opportunities not just for passenger numbers, but for more freight. In the past 10 years, there has been a 60% increase in freight. The issue of capacity is what is holding back a further increase. The west coast main line is the busiest railway line in Europe. An increase in capacity will free up a lot of other services and opportunities.
Mr Speaker
I am pleased to be able to advise the House that 37 Back Benchers were able to contribute in 37 minutes of exclusively Back-Bench time. I suggest that the Secretary of State issue his manual on pithy replies to all members of the Cabinet, who would profit greatly from reading that text. The journey time was very satisfactory.