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Public Transport

I, too, welcome the report and welcome my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs. Ellman) to her position as Chair of the Committee. I know that she will do a sterling job in that post. On behalf of my constituency, I would like to make particular reference to paragraph 56 of the report, which is headed ““Ticket gates—not the only solution””. My hon. Friend will have received a letter from a Geraldine Roberts, who is the chair of the residents against station closures group, concerning Sheffield Midland station and the development there. Those who have had the opportunity—in fact, the pleasure—to come to Sheffield will have arrived at a station that has now been refurbished. The entrance has been developed and the walkway into the centre of Sheffield is now commensurate with a modern European industrial city. There is a problem, however, to do with revenue protection. The franchise that has been obtained by Stagecoach, in its bid for the east midlands franchise, is now creating problems in the operation of Sheffield Midland station. There have been two major developments in Sheffield, on each side of the station, one of which is the Park Hill flats. Those who come into Sheffield will know that the block has been there since the 1960s. It has undergone a massive refurbishment by English Partnerships and Urban Splash. On the other side of the station is Sheffield Hallam university, a very good university that is driving major parts of Sheffield's regeneration, part of which involves the creative industries quarter and the digital centre. The franchise said that gating could be installed, in order to protect the companies from fraud and the lack of fares, as well as to reduce crime. Both of those considerations we accept. However, we want a proper cost-benefit analysis, because the movement of population from one side of the station to the other is very much through the station—indeed, it is an historical fact of the development of Sheffield's railway network, city centre and university, as well as the residential area in and around Park hill. The point made in the report under ““Ticket gates—not the only solution””, which is a fair one, challenges some of the franchises that have been given out, particularly on the east coast main line. I hope that the issue can be revisited, as the report asks, to ensure that the cost-benefit analysis is done. The unfortunate part, which is again brought out in the report, is that many franchises have worked in isolation, taking into account just transport and not the wider concerns about economic regeneration or other developments. There are a number of such issues on the midland main line, which has problems with the gating at some of the stations. I welcome the report and its recommendations. I hope that the Government's response to the recommendation in paragraph 60 means that they will look not just at Sheffield, but at all the stations on the midland main line, to ensure that the cost-benefit analysis for all those areas is both effective and commensurate with the public money that has been put into the economic regeneration there, as well as into the stations themselves. Unfortunately, I have to speak just after 6 o'clock in another meeting, but I hope to return for the winding-up speeches, to listen to my right hon. Friend the Minister's reply, which I hope will be very positive indeed.