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East Coast Main Line

I honestly take the right hon. Gentleman's point, but I fear that for some individuals looking at the information, a little knowledge was a dangerous thing, as they were reading more into it than was perhaps justified. Because of the extent of the proposed timetable changes, the Office of Rail Regulation will need to approve amendments to the track access agreements that enable the train operators to gain access to the railway network. This will require the ORR to be satisfied that the trains and train operators granted access to run on the route are those that will make the best use of it and make the greatest contribution to the economic health of the regions it serves, as well as to the financial health of the railway system. I understand that the ORR will publish its decisions within the next few days. I should explain that, in addition to the proposed changes to East Coast and other franchised passenger services in May 2011, the ORR received a number of other applications for additional access rights on the east coast main line from open access passenger and freight train operators. The total demand for train paths exceeded the available network capacity, so it has been necessary for the ORR to determine which applications for track access it will approve and which should be rejected. In reaching its decisions on the best use of capacity, the ORR has a statutory duty to balance a large range of factors, including promoting use of the network for the carriage of passengers and goods, protecting performance levels, encouraging competition and having regard to the available funding for the railway system. There are some difficult trade-offs here. For example, while new open access passenger services generally increase the overall number of passengers travelling, and compete with established operators, they often require non-standard train paths, which could be a performance risk, and much of their revenue is abstracted from franchised operators, thereby increasing the cost of the railways to the taxpayer. In addition to providing its own economic and financial analysis, the ORR asked Network Rail to report on the extent to which the competing applications for capacity might be accommodated. In accordance with its usual policy of transparency, the ORR published on its website Network Rail's reports on associated timetabling work, which is what we are talking about. Unfortunately, this preliminary timetabling work, which was carried out purely to inform the ORR's decision-making process, has been misinterpreted by some as a final timetable. That is particularly unfortunate in the case of East Coast and CrossCountry services at Berwick-upon-Tweed, Alnmouth and Morpeth, which had not been fully specified when Network Rail's preliminary timetabling was carried out, as they were not directly relevant to the key capacity allocation decisions for the route south of York. Specification of these services is now complete and, subject to the ORR's final decisions and any adjustments arising from consultation, the May 2011 timetable in Northumberland will be as I described it a few moments ago. Although the May 2011 timetable will be implemented by the public sector train operator, East Coast, it is the Government's policy that passenger train services should be provided by the private sector through franchising agreements with the Department for Transport. Thus, on 21 January my noble Friend the Secretary of State for Transport announced the start of consultation on the specification for a new inter-city East Coast franchise to commence in autumn 2011. The consultation document is available on the Department's website; I encourage hon. Members to read it and to let us have their views on the proposed specification. The right hon. Gentleman asked specifically about Friday services. I can assure him that the 19.00 service from London will run every day and that the 19.30 from London to Newcastle will be extended to Edinburgh on Fridays only, calling at Morpeth, Alnmouth and Berwick-upon-Tweed. At its inception, the new franchise will operate the May 2011 timetable and will continue to provide the services at Berwick-upon-Tweed, Alnmouth and Morpeth, as I described earlier. We intend to invite bidders to make proposals to utilise the additional infrastructure capacity, to be provided by Network Rail by 2014, and, subject to the usual value for money and affordability assessments, we would hope to be able to procure further train service improvements in that year. Bidders for the new franchise will be expected to demonstrate how they will achieve improvements in service levels and facilities at stations where the franchisee is the station facility owner, and that includes Berwick-upon-Tweed. They will be required to address safety and security, accessibility and improvements to car parking and cycle storage, along with other concerns that the right hon. Gentleman raised. The Department will expect bidders' plans to be informed by the recent review entitled "Better Railway Stations" carried out by station champions Chris Green and Sir Peter Hall, whom the right hon. Gentleman mentioned. Reopening of the former station at Belford was mentioned. I know that this has been a local aspiration for some time. Although potential passenger numbers are probably quite modest, a limited service could be provided with minimal additional operating costs, because local trains between Newcastle and Chathill must run north to Belford before changing tracks to return south. I understand that Northumberland county council is considering as early as next week the case for reinstating a platform at Belford, and the Government would welcome that initiative. The right hon. Gentleman spoke briefly about ticket prices. Let me remind him of the need to strike a balance between the interests of the fare payer and those of the taxpayer. I am sure he will appreciate that the east coast train operator will want to promote increased use of its services while protecting its revenue. The new inter-city east coast franchisee will also be able to undertake the introduction of the new super-express trains, which are expected to be available from 2014 onwards. The Department is leading the procurement of those trains, which will be designed, financed, built and maintained through a private finance initiative. We expect the new trains to give the franchisee an opportunity to make further improvements to the east coast main line timetable, including further journey time reductions and frequency increases. I cannot make any precise commitments about the details of the super-express timetable at this stage. An initial outline will be prepared over the next few months as part of the specification for the new franchise, and more detailed development will be undertaken at the appropriate time by the new franchisee in conjunction with Network Rail and other stakeholders. I thank the House for the opportunity to explain the Government's plans for improved train services on the east coast main line, with particular reference to services at the stations in Northumberland. They illustrate the Government's ongoing commitment to improving Britain's railways. Question put and agreed to.