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Railways

My Lords, I join in the general congratulations to my noble friend Lord Berkeley on securing the debate. In fact, I will go further than that and say that I have benefited greatly today from listening to the contributors to the debate. They obviously know far more about the history and development of the rail network than I do and I feel somewhat humble and inadequate in their presence. There is a wealth of knowledge in your Lordships’ House, both on the Opposition Benches and the Benches behind me, on the rail network and its development. I pay tribute to all noble Lords who have contributed. It has been a good debate because it was framed in a positive mode and was full of encouragement. It is a rare pleasure these days to be involved in debating issues where there is a genuine recognition that great improvements have been made, particularly over the past decade or so. I share the sadness that was expressed at the outset by my noble friend Lord Berkeley about the absence of contributors on the Conservative Benches. I pay tribute to the noble Earl, Lord Attlee, for playing his part. It is sad that there has not been more of a contribution because the Conservative Party has a lot of explaining to do for the damage it did to the rail network during its 18 years in government. We have worked hard to put that right. Many of the problems we still have are because of the long-term lead-in necessary to solve them. This pre-figures what we have to do in order to roll out continuous improvement. The noble Lord, Lord Faulkner, was right to discuss a renaissance in the railway network. That is certainly what is happening and we want to continue that renaissance. As many noble Lords have said, we are currently seeing record levels of train patronage. In the most recent full year figures the railways saw annual growth in passenger numbers accelerating to 7.5 per cent, up from 3.6 per cent in 2005. That takes the number passenger journeys to well over 1.1 billion, the highest level for 60 years, which is a real achievement when the railway network is now between 30 and 40 per cent smaller than it was in the 1940s. This makes our railway network the fastest growing in Europe. The noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, made a good point when he said that we will have to take account of this more recent rapid growth when considering our forward plans and our current prediction of a 30 per cent growth in passenger numbers. It is a fair point that has not escaped my attention; I have made it to officials on more than one occasion. Like the passenger railway, rail freight is now growing after a long period of decline, a point made by a number of noble Lords, in particular by my noble friends Lord Berkeley and Lord Faulkner. The amount of freight moved has increased by 66 per cent since 1995 and we expect it to grow by another 30 per cent in the next 10 years. Noble Lords will appreciate that that growth, coupled with rising passenger numbers, will substantially increase the competition for space on the network. To cope with those ever-increasing numbers, we are taking steps to increase capacity. Over the next two years Network Rail plans to more than double its average annual investment in enhancement schemes to expand network capacity. Platforms will be lengthened, new platforms added, new tracks laid and line speeds raised. The rail White Paper that was published in July, much praised during the debate, is a vote of confidence in rail travel. It is the most positive statement about the growth and development of Britain’s railways in 50 years. It sets out the funds we intend to make available for the railways in the medium term, together with the improvements we expect the rail industry to deliver in return. It covers the period from 2009 to 2014. The aim is to develop a modern, sustainable system that is accessible and easy for passengers to use. In addition, it sets out our plans in the context of a long-term strategy covering the next 30 years. The White Paper is unique in delivering the single biggest programme of investment for a generation. More than £10 billion will be invested in enhancing capacity between 2009 and 2014. Overall government support for the railway will total some £15 billion. Much has been said during the debate about the 1,300 extra carriages that are to come into service between now and 2014 and will go to the routes and services with the worst overcrowding problems. That will provide nearly 100,000 new seats for passengers on intercity commuter trains to our major cities. It will increase that capacity and will help us cope with the 30 per cent increase we currently project for the decade ahead. Roughly 900 of those new additional carriages are expected to go to London and the south-east, with the remainder being allocated to regional cities and inter-urban areas. Precise details have still to be finalised. The next step in the process is for Network Rail and the industry to consider in more detail how best to deliver the Government’s targets on capacity, safety and reliability through the introduction of more rolling stock. The department will publish a rolling stock plan in January 2008 setting out its proposals in more detail. The noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, was particularly keen to learn about that. We hope to see the introduction of new rolling stock following on swiftly from that plan. We are aiming for a network that can handle—