Speeches by Alexander.

“I know that we need to improve the performance on both the Avanti West Coast and Northern routes; the Rail Minister and I are seized of the importance of doing that. I assure my hon. Friend that I will continue to work with the Mayor of Greater Manchester to ensure that the inter-city improvements we have announced tod…”

“My hon. Friend is entirely right. A reliable, affordable, frequent public transport service, including the new rail line between Liverpool and Manchester, will enable and encourage more people to leave the car at home and make their journeys in a more sustainable way. It strikes me as ludicrous that at the moment it ta…”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising the issue of the Yarnfield compound; I am not sure that she and I have actually spoken about it directly before. If she could write to me with more detail, I would be happy to come back to her to let her and her constituents know what more we can do to provide certainty on th…”

“The Chair of the Transport Committee is completely right that the proposals we are announcing today will deliver rail services for the north that are comparable to those in London and the south-east—a “turn up and go” railway where people do not have to check the timetable before they go to the station, because they kn…”

“I was interested to hear the hon. Lady’s contribution. She claimed that she supports anything that improves the public transport network in the north of England, but in September last year Reform came out with a clear objection to the Northern Powerhouse Rail scheme, telling the public that they should just accept thei…”

“My hon. Friend has championed the station in Bradford enormously over recent years, and I can assure him that we will press forward with the work that is already under way with the council on a business case for the station. We will reach decisions by the summer of this year. We have made funding available to then move…”

“I can wholeheartedly assure the hon. Member that this announcement is good news for Bradford station. I have been working closely with Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, the leader of Bradford Council, and Tracy Brabin, the Mayor of West Yorkshire. We will be pressing forward with the work that is already under way with the…”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising the Calder Valley line and the importance of further electrification of the network. If I may, and in the interests of time, I will ask the Rail Minister to write to my hon. Friend with further information on that, but I appreciate that it will be important for his constituen…”

“I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for her contribution. She talks about Manchester Piccadilly; I am reminded of the words of Mayor Andy Burnham, who has said to me that he sees the potential of that station to be a King’s Cross for the north. I agree with my right hon. Friend that we need to resolve the issue of th…”

“I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we are getting on with this, and we will see these improvements delivered. I do not share his cynicism that we will spend the next four years simply coming up with a plan; the £1.1 billion that has been allocated is for land acquisitions and early preparatory works on the Yorkshire …”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her question and for the measured way she has put it. I know that the issue is close to the heart of her constituents, and I know that the Rail Minister is very keen to engage further with her and other affected Members on this issue. I can assure her that he will be in touch shortly to discu…”

“We are going to give the public the confidence that when it comes to rail infrastructure, we are spending taxpayers’ money wisely. We will learn from the mistakes of HS2 and make sure we do the work properly to start off with, so we are not wasting taxpayers’ money in the way that the previous Government did with their…”

“I will certainly ask the Rail Minister to meet my hon. Friend and her colleagues. I do think that two fast services an hour between the key cities of Leeds and Sheffield is simply not good enough. We are committed to improving those services and to providing the capacity that is required at Sheffield station, and I loo…”

“It is a simple fact that communities in the north of England have had to put up with second-rate transport systems for far too long. I can guarantee that this Government are fully committed to Northern Powerhouse Rail. I understand that the hon. Gentleman is impatient for announcements. He may have to wait a few days o…”

“I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for fulfilling his role as spokesperson for the kingdom of Kent. I am keen to maximise the number of people who are using the rail network to get to Gatwick airport. We have granted planning consent for Gatwick to bring its second runway into use in future and I want to continu…”

“I can assure the hon. Gentleman that I have regular meetings with my Scottish counterpart, Fiona Hyslop. I can also assure him, as I have for other Members already today, that affordability will be a key priority as we set up Great British Railways and create a railway in England that puts passengers before profit. It …”

“I am happy to ask the Local Transport Minister to meet the hon. Gentleman. It sounds to me as if this is a locally managed project, and we would not interfere in that, but I am happy for a further conversation to take place.”

“I remember from my time as deputy Mayor of London the perennial problem of leaves on the line, particularly on the Piccadilly line. I am happy to raise the hon. Member’s comments with the transport commissioner, Andy Lord.”

“I am happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss that. I also assure her that I have raised the importance of public transport accessibility with the leadership of Luton airport, as well as the integration of the National Rail network and the Direct Air-Rail Transit link. I am happy to discuss that matter further with her.”

“When planning permission was granted for the expansion of Luton airport, careful consideration was given to how people would access the airport, by road and by rail, and Luton also has the DART link. When it comes to the accessibility of the new Universal theme park, we are investing in rail networks such as East West …”