Population changes are among a range of factors that the Department routinely takes into account when assessing the demand for train services. Other factors include line and station capacity, the number of train services already using the line and the availability of alternative transport modes.
I welcome the Minister to the Dispatch Box, and I hope that he has a long and illustrious career. As he knows, Dronfield, the largest town in my constituency, has a population of some 25,000. Ten trains stop at Dronfield railway station every day. Let us compare that with Alfreton, a nearby town, which has a population a third the size of that of Dronfield but three times as many trains. Ninety-three trains a day stop in Long Eaton, which is far smaller than Dronfield. What is my hon. Friend doing to influence the current round of bids for the east midlands rail franchise to ensure that demographic changes in places such as Derbyshire are taken into account?
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her kind comments, and I pay tribute to her for her energetic campaign of work on behalf of her constituents on the subject of her question—especially the Dronfield station action group, whose members I was privileged to meet earlier this afternoon. My hon. Friend rightly points out that the east midlands franchise provides an opportunity to improve services at Dronfield. I can confirm that a new service between Nottingham and Leeds was included in the east midlands franchise document that the Department issued in June, and I am confident that it offers the genuine prospect of an improved service to Dronfield.
The Minister’s predecessor will be welcome any time in Newbury, and will be stood many free drinks for his work in reversing the proposed cuts in the new timetable. The current Minister will have as warm a welcome if he does all he can to assist in retaining the late-night service from Paddington to Newbury, which is under threat. It operates from open platforms at Paddington and Reading, and there is no understanding at First Great Western of the value of the service. Will the Under-Secretary do all he can to help protect that vital service for late-night travellers?
I shall be honoured to accept any free drinks that the hon. Gentleman wants to offer at the Strangers Bar, but he has probably been misinformed about cuts to services. The British railway is expanding at a greater rate than that in almost any other European country. If he wants to write to me about specific aspects of the service about which he is worried, I shall be more than happy to discuss them with him. However, there is a massive increase in the number of passenger journeys in the British rail network, with more than 1 billion passengers carried on it every year. Such a service has not been experienced since 1961.
Sunderland, a city of 300,000 people, was given a direct rail service to London. Great North Eastern Railway then had a hissy fit and has sought chapter 11 protection in the United States. Will my hon. Friend assure us that none of the other towns and cities that GNER serves will suffer any resultant harm, and that the Government will continue to get their full franchise agreement money from GNER?
The House would not expect me to comment on what is a matter for the private company, Sea Containers, which owns the GNER service. The Sunderland to London service, which is planned to commence on 10 December this year, is with the Office of Rail Regulation, and we expect an announcement soon.
I add my congratulations to the Minister on his appointment. I am not sure that I hope he has a long and fruitful career, but I hope that he enjoys his time at the Department, and that there is a change of management before too long.
Two weeks ago, the Department announced the award of the South West Trains franchise, and said that capacity on mainline and suburban services would increase by about 20 per cent. The Minister said:
“Today’s contract means that capacity will further increase and there will be more seats for many passengers on busy routes”.
When he said that, was he aware that South West Trains’ plans require it to rip out about a quarter of the seats on its suburban trains? Was he also aware that more passengers will have to stand, and that its whole business plan is built around cramming more and more passengers into the same space on its trains?
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his comments.
The new south-western franchise will be of major benefit to everyone travelling in the south-western area, including his constituents. Capacity on peak-time services in the south-western franchise will increase by 20 per cent., and I would have thought that he would welcome that. I would also expect him to welcome the fact that, unlike many previous franchises, Stagecoach Ltd has committed to giving the Government £2.1 billion over the length of it. He has a problem with private companies giving money to the Government instead of the other way round, which I find to be an odd state of affairs.
The Minister does not seem to understand the problem. It is not much of a deal for passengers who must stand on the way to work for 45 minutes on trains that will have fewer seats in future than today. Nor does he seem to understand the problems of the franchise system. This morning, the chief executive of GNER said that it might have to hand back its keys to its franchise. In other areas, fares are going up, car park charges are being increased and more and more passengers are being crammed on to the same trains. Does not he accept that the franchising system, as changed by this Government, is not working?
I do not accept that. The south-western franchise represents an excellent deal for the passenger and the taxpayer. I do not accept the hon. Gentleman’s analysis of the current system, and every time he opens his mouth on the matter, I have a sense of trepidation. First, he said that he regretted his Government’s cack-handed privatisation of the rail service in 1994. Now he is saying that the franchising system is not sustainable. He also wants to decimate the rail service further by breaking up Network Rail and redrawing its responsibilities to be coterminous with the franchise areas. Under this Government, the British railway system is growing and taking more people on journeys. His proposals will not benefit, and certainly not expand, that railway system.
My hon. Friend will be aware of the announcement that the station in the village of Croy in my constituency is to become a major hub in central Scotland, connecting to the rest of the UK with a park-and-ride facility. Does he agree that that example could be replicated across the rest of the UK, improving rail transport while also reducing road transport?
As a former employee of Strathclyde Passenger Transport, it gives me great pleasure to pay tribute to its work in Croy and to the efforts of the Labour-led Scottish Executive, who have been a partner in the project.
The Minister will be pleased to know that Shrewsbury will finally receive its direct rail link to London—next year I hope—thanks to a private company, Renaissance Trains, providing the service from Wrexham to Marylebone. Will he agree to meet that company to help it to cross the t’s and dot the i’s?
I am always available for crossing t’s and dotting i’s. The hon. Gentleman is correct to say that the proposed start date for the new service is 2007. The plan is that five trains will be used in each direction on that route.