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Rail Vehicle Accessibility (London Underground Metropolitan Line S8 Vehicles) Exemption Order 2010

We, too, support the order. In many respects the railway outside London is very old, as is much of its rolling stock, and the modifications necessary to meet these standards will be incredibly expensive. The noble Baroness touched on the subject of stations to which there will be no step-free access, and at many of these the cost of providing lifts will be very high. One of the problems in a democracy is deciding where limited money will be spent; in the end, we have to make judgments that some people may find unacceptable but which the majority may accept. The order is a good and clear agreement as to what can best be done. As to the introduction of new rolling stock, both for London Underground and the big railway, there will be a lot of obstacles between now and the date that the new rolling stock will become available. The Government have still not published their rolling stock plan for the big railway and London Transport is in tremendous contractual trouble as a result of the PFI arrangements that the Government introduced and which were supported manifestly by the Prime Minister. It is difficult to see how the necessary rolling stock will be provided to meet the dates outlined. I shall make one other point that is not strictly related to London Underground. Disability discrimination legislation applies equally, of course, to road transport, with which I am more familiar, and bus companies have invested hugely in buses that kneel and that have ramps, visible handrails, audible warnings, visual warnings and so on. However, the Government have manifestly failed to deal with the big objection that often these buses cannot berth alongside the kerb because of the flagrant breaches of parking restrictions that are allowed. On the railways we have the benefit that the train will pull up at the platform; unfortunately, bus passengers have no guarantee whatever that the bus will be able to get to the kerb. The Government have major problems but, having made those points, I will happily otherwise support the order.