Speeches by Alexander.

“As tempting as the hon. Lady’s invitation is, I regret that I will not be able to do that, and I will not commit the Roads Minister to it either, but we will look at the matters she raises and write to her with an update on the action we think could be taken to improve the situation.”

“I am aware that feasibility studies have been done on 50 Access for All stations, and we are reviewing the outcomes of those studies. I apologise to the right hon. Gentleman for not knowing whether that station in his constituency is one of those 50. I promise him that I will talk to officials about the matter.”

“With the transfer of South Western trains into public ownership in 10 days’ time, the Government are determined to turn this situation around, but I have to say that we have inherited an abject mess from the train operating company, which over six years has failed to get the new fleet of Arterio 701 trains into service…”

“The hon. Lady mentioned this to me a couple of days ago when I bumped into her, but I regret to inform her that the Department does not currently have any plans to take forward a development link between Bishops Lydeard and Taunton. I have, however, asked officials to reach out to those at the local authority to discus…”

“A review is being conducted by the National Energy System Operator on the Heathrow substation fire. The interim report has been published, and we expect the full report in June. The Heathrow report is expected to go to its board in May. My Department and I work very closely with all transport operators to ensure that t…”

“The answer I gave to the shadow Secretary of State’s previous question was that if, as an operator of the railway, we felt it was necessary to take a strike on grounds of safety, we would, of course, put the safety of the travelling public first—that will always be the case. On the harmonisation of terms and conditions…”

“I appreciate the importance of aviation to the Northern Ireland economy and thank the hon. Gentleman for his interest in this matter. As the Minister responsible for aviation, my hon. Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Mike Kane) said in answer to substantive questions, airports are currently seeing their…”

“I am not surprised to hear that buses are top of the agenda for my hon. Friend’s constituents. Reliable, affordable bus services will be essential for so many of those she represents, and I was particularly delighted to see the successful launch this week of Mayor Tracy Brabin’s Weaver bus network. The Government are i…”

“My hon. Friend is right to highlight the importance of rail freight, and I am clear that with a reformed railway, we must do more to shift freight from the roads to rail. I am keen that Network Rail works collaboratively with industry to develop terminals where there is either current demand or the potential for future…”

“Economic growth is this Government’s top priority, and a reliable, well-connected transport network is critical to driving prosperity. That means delivering local priorities in places such as Huddersfield and Hyndburn, including through West Yorkshire’s £830 million city region sustainable transport settlement and the …”

“The uplift in service levels between London and Holyhead from this Sunday is indeed welcome, and I agree that a reliable service being delivered for the passengers of north Wales is vital for economic growth. I recognise that Wales has not seen its fair share of funding historically, and I am committed to continued rai…”

“What is really interesting is looking at things like the rail network enhancements programme in Network Rail which often looks at improving and building new stations, improving accessibility at stations and at the frequency of services at existing stations and in which areas they ultimately terminate. All of that can b…”

“We will make sure that those safeguards are in place. We need to go through the responses to the consultation and get the legislation finalised and before Parliament, so it is appropriate that when GBR is set up both open access operators and freight know that there is a fair process in place for them seeking access to…”

“I was about to come to that point. It is important that there is a single guiding mind about who is taking decisions about access to the network. I come back to the point I made previously that at the moment the taxpayer subsidises the day-to-day operation of the railways to the tune of £2 billion. We have to be mindfu…”

“I have been very clear that there is a role for open access operators in the reformed railway. We should bear in mind that, in the overall number of journeys on the railways, open access operators account for less than 1%. The visit I made to Newton Aycliffe was to see the new trains that will be part of the Grand Cent…”

“One hundred per cent. The public sector equality duty will apply to GBR. It does not currently apply to the train operating companies. We made it clear in the consultation document that accessibility will be at the heart of Great British Railways. I know that the rail Minister has responded to your letter, Chair, setti…”

“Correct, and that is why I said there is detail to be worked through and I am happy to come back to talk to you about it.”

“It is something that we are working through at the moment. If you are running an organisation the size of Great British Railways, there will need to be a sensible management structure in place. We have now recruited some alliance directors for Southeastern and South Western, which is where you bring together the operat…”

“I do not have figures on that with me today. What we want to do is reduce the existing duplication. I hope there would be some cost savings associated with that. One of the discussions that I am having with officials at the moment is how we set up new systems in the most cost-effective way. If there is one system that …”

“In the consultation that we ran a couple of months ago we proposed a statutory role for devolved Governments and mayoral strategic authorities in helping to plan and develop the rail network. Established mayoral strategic authorities will have the right to request further rail devolution. GBR will need to balance local…”