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Transport (North-West)

I congratulate the hon. Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle) on winning this debate. There are some debates in this Hall to which hardly anyone turns up, so the good representation of Members of Parliament from all over the north-west shows the interest in this one. The hon. Gentleman mentioned several areas on which I, too, would like to comment. Perhaps we could all work together on further campaigns, because one thing that we all do is travel around our constituency. We use the networks and know about existing problems. I am sure that the Minister would agree that one of the problems as far as the railways are concerned is the cost of taking the train, which we all know about. An open return from London to Manchester now costs £247. To travel last minute from Euston to Preston costs £69.40 off-peak, £128 in economy and £195 one- way in first class. There is something wrong with a system when it is more economical to fly a route than to take the train first-class. I hope that we will try again to get some common sense in the pricing of rail travel, as something is amiss. The system is okay for business men who are able to claim back the cost, but what about ordinary people who need to travel on the train, particularly last-minute? Not only is there a confusing plethora of train fares, but some are extremely expensive. I hope that we can have a look at that. I want to pay tribute to my local line, Ribble Valley Rail, and Peter Moore in particular, who has lobbied me for almost all of my 17 years as MP for the area, and to the dedication of the many volunteers who ensure that the train station is kept spick and span, and who have lobbied to ensure that services exist and that old railway stations are reopened. The dedication of the volunteers means that the service along that line is much better than it would otherwise be. In addition, they propose an hourly service from Manchester Victoria to Carlisle, as they believe that there is a large demand for such a service. The Secretary of State for Transport has been invited to the Ribble Valley to meet representatives of Ribble Valley Rail and to go on a short journey on the line. I believe that he would enjoy it, because it is one of the most picturesque train journeys that one could wish to do, and that he would be seduced by the enthusiasm of the volunteers and those who support local railway lines. Beeching did enormous damage in the 1960s, in the way in which he took out many railway lines, and I accept that some of them cannot be reintroduced because of present building constraints. It is a great shame that people did not think long and hard about the unintended consequences of taking away so many local railway lines. Some areas are now more isolated than they otherwise would be, and pensioners—the hon. Member for Chorley is right to think about their transport needs—have lost out, as they do not have a local railway service. If a local bus service was not introduced to replace the rail service, they are even more isolated. They cannot all afford taxis.