§ 1. Mr. Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)If he will make a statement on plans to improve rail links between London and Gloucestershire. [145864]
§ The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Dr. Kim Howells)There have already been significant improvements. New rolling stock was recently introduced between London and Gloucester, and in May 2003 the number of Paddington to Gloucester trains was roughly doubled. In addition, the new Thames Trains franchise, which was announced in December, will have consequent benefits for routes between London and Gloucestershire.
§ Mr. RobertsonI thank the Minister for that reply, although I must say that people in Gloucestershire who travel to London might not recognise the improvements he describes. I spoke to the Strategic Rail Authority only this morning, and it told me that there is no certainty of improved services until 2006. I understand that the SRA will not advertise the new franchises until next year, yet there is an urgent need to improve rail transport between Gloucestershire and London. Furthermore, the link with Ashchurch station, which opened only recently, has been made almost worthless by the reduction in services from that station. Many people who live in Gloucestershire choose to drive to London because of the inadequacy of the rail services.
§ Dr. HowellsI am very much aware that, owing to a timetable overhaul involving the SRA, Network Rail and the train operator, Virgin CrossCountry, trains bound for Tewkesbury stopped calling at Ashchurch station last September to effect an improvement in the poor timekeeping of Virgin's cross-country services. The most recently published figures show that the subsequent improvement in the percentage of trains arriving on time has been about 20 per cent. Ashchurch retains a very good local service to Gloucester and Cheltenham, as well as to Cardiff, Worcester and Birmingham.
§ Mr. Parmjit Dhanda (Gloucester)(Lab)As the Member of Parliament for Gloucester, I am pleased 140 about the doubling of the number of trains from Gloucester to London and the enhanced regional service to Bristol and Swindon, but we have suffered in respect of some of our inter-city trains, so if the Government-funded viability study into a new station for Gloucester is completed at the end of the month and it proposes a new station on the main line, which would further enhance the service, I urge my hon. Friend the Minister to support the proposal and to do something that the Conservatives were afraid to do when they were in government.
§ Dr. HowellsI look forward to receiving a copy of the survey report.
§ Mr. Peter Luff (Mid-Worcestershire) (Con)I was glad to hear the Minister refer to the Thames Trains franchise during his answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Tewkesbury (Mr. Robertson), as the company provides important services to Gloucestershire and to Worcestershire. I am also glad that the new franchise has been awarded to First Great Western, which will result in a substantial improvement to services in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, but does the Minister agree that the only way to ensure that such an improvement is provided is to increase significantly dual-track sections on the Cotswold line, which still suffers from very long sections of single track with consequent unreliability for all passengers using it?
§ Dr. HowellsI certainly sympathise with the hon. Gentleman, as the issue has long been a bone of contention with passengers. He knows, however, that laying four tracks is not inexpensive—it is a very, very expensive thing to do—
§ Dr. HowellsI am sorry—two tracks. I shall certainly ask the SRA what part the project might play in any strategy it cares to come up with for services to Worcester in the future.
§ Mrs. Theresa May (Maidenhead) (Con)Any changes to rail links between London and Gloucestershire affect the main Great Western line and, indeed, Thames Trains services, as the Minister pointed out. Does he agree with the SRA that changes currently proposed to those services will bring improvements for passengers on both long distance and local services?
§ Dr. HowellsThat has to be the ideal objective for the SRA in anything that it does in detailing the new franchise. I should like to see improved services for people travelling over all distances on a line that I use every week. I know of the problems that people have suffered along the line and I very much hope that the recent improvements will continue.
§ Mrs. MayThe Minister refers to the ideal for improvements along the line, but of course the changes proposed by the SRA will be far from the ideal. The changes that the authority is making on the Great Western line mean slower trains to places such as Slough and Bourne End, no single-stop services to London from Maidenhead and Twyford and, for some 141 passengers, journey times will nearly double. The Government's obsession with targets means that passengers on local services now face slower trains, longer journeys and more overcrowding? Added to higher fares and worse reliability, is not the reality that, far from delivering improvements and a better service, the Government are delivering a failing service for rail passengers and that motorists, rail users and tube users all suffer from this failing Government?
§ Dr. HowellsThe hon. Lady will not be surprised if I say, no, I do not recognise that. I am sure that she will know—if she was open with us, she would say so—that the problem is her Government's appallingly botched privatisation of the railway system, which we are still trying to repair and into which we are putting a lot of money.