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Railways

Volume 400: debated on Tuesday 4 March 2003

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4.

What measures he has taken to improve access to rail services for citizens of South Derbyshire. [100180]

The Strategic Rail Authority is working to improve rail services across the country. We are supporting Derbyshire county council's local transport plan, which includes the setting up of a rural transport partnership to help tackle transport issues in South Derbyshire.

The Minister will forgive my lack of enthusiasm for that modest response. I draw his attention to three projects that would certainly add to the accessibility of rail services in South Derbyshire: first, progress on the east midlands parkway, which has not so far been assisted by the SRA; secondly, the opening of the Donnington loop between Willington and Nottingham, which was commended in the M1 study but has not been proceeded with by the Government; and thirdly, the national forest line between Leicester and Burton, a line which would eventually go to Derby.

I understand the demand for a new parkway station. There is pressure on budgets and, with the east midlands airport parkway, there have been some difficulties in getting agreement among all the parties concerned.

The national forest line used to be referred to as the Ivanhoe line. Strong pressure has come from Derbyshire councils on that issue, which will also require the support of Staffordshire councils. With changing travel-to-work patterns—such as those seen on the Robin Hood line—we acknowledge that the extension of services on to what have traditionally been freight lines, and the expansion of commuter services, can be of considerable advantage in helping businesses in city centres and in providing different work opportunities for people along the routes.

Last year, it was announced that a new service of 10 trains a day would operate from Matlock to Birmingham, also serving South Derbyshire. That new service has now been cut to two trains a day within three months of coming into operation. Is that a good message to send out to encourage the use of public transport?

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that expansion on a number of routes was found to be detrimental to reliability. When I considered the question of a cut in the service from Derby to Birmingham, I found that the five services an hour had gone down to four services an hour, which it had previously been. The SRA has rightly considered reliability—particularly in the Birmingham hub area— and the ability of all the rail companies to deliver their services. That was the right way to deal with the issue, because reliability is extremely important in developing the railway service. That service will undoubtedly have to be fine-tuned, and I am always prepared—as is the SRA—to consider particular services; but the principle underlying what has been done is absolutely right.