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Railway Industry

I am sure that the Scottish Government will do that. However, there is not much point in building a high-speed line if it does not link up with the rest of the network. At the moment, the high-speed line will run nowhere near Scotland. I understand that Network Rail had a proposal that would have taken the line into central Scotland. That would have made more sense, it would have linked central Scotland with the main high-speed network running south, and it would have provided the basis for an extension of the network further north. At the moment, as the Minister knows, the high-speed network comes nowhere near Scotland, and it will be many years before it gets as far as Edinburgh. The Government seem to take a London-centric view of the matter. If we were to tip things the other way so that the line ran south, the speed of journeys would increase faster and the green objectives of the Government and the Scottish Government would be met. The Scottish Government have invested a lot in the railway in Scotland. I accept that that is their responsibility and that some of the work must be done in Scotland—there is no argument about that. For example, the Scottish Government opened a new station at Laurencekirk on the east coast line, although strangely enough the direct mainline services will not stop there, so people still have to get a train to another station to get on those direct services. ScotRail runs a good service to Edinburgh and Glasgow, but again, people have to change trains to get on to the direct line to travel further south. People going on business trips look for a direct service. New lines have been opened from Stirling and Alloa; there is a new line from the border and considerable improvements along the Paisley corridor. All those things have improved rail travel in Scotland, but we still need links to the lines that will take us to continental Europe through the Eurostar network. To do that, unfortunately we need to rely on the Government in this place taking action on the east coast line and the high-speed line. My main point is to ask the Minister about the rolling stock for the east coast line, which is the responsibility of her Department. As the hon. Members for Newton Abbot (Anne Marie Morris) and for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) pointed out, the new trains are vital to show that the Government are serious about investment in our railways and in the important economic asset of the east coast line. I appreciate that the comprehensive spending review is tomorrow, but I urge the Minister to ensure that the rolling stock is purchased and that a clear signal is given about the future of the line.