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Adjournment debate on Wednesday, 3 February 2010, in the House of Commons, led by Joan Walley. The answering member was Chris Mole.

First Capital Connect

Westminster hall adjournment debate on First Capital Connect rail services.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
505 c106-32WH 
Session
2009-10
Department
Department for Transport
Chamber / Committee
Westminster Hall
Proceeding contributions
Kelvin Hopkins | 505 c109WH (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady accept that the state railway systems in continental Europe run much better than ...
Anne Main | 505 c111-3WH (Link to this contribution) I am not sure whether it is the incompetence of the company or the people building the trains. I am ...
Show all contributions (78)
Anne Main | 505 c110-1WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That litany of charges has come through my post box and those of...
Paul Burstow | 505 c111WH (Link to this contribution) It is not just that trains have been delivered late; they are not delivering the service they are me...
Andrew Pelling | 505 c109-10WH (Link to this contribution) The list of the many things that the hon. Lady has done shows that I was right to say at the beginni...
Anne Main | 505 c110WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman anticipates the later part of my speech. I thank him for his warm words. He is ab...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 505 c110WH (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend on her vigorous and energetic campaign on behalf of all our constituen...
Anne Main | 505 c109WH (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that rather rosy view of life on the continent, but I must say that o...
Anne Main | 505 c116WH (Link to this contribution) I am sure what the hon. Gentleman describes is rampant across the whole service. Does he share my di...
Kelvin Hopkins | 505 c116WH (Link to this contribution) I put down an early-day motion on this matter only yesterday. I want the Government to take away the...
Anne Main | 505 c114-5WH (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend. If the cold weather was a force majeure, which is allowable under the f...
Kelvin Hopkins | 505 c115-6WH (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. I congratulate the hon. Member for St. Albans (Anne Main) ...
Anne Main | 505 c113WH (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the hon. Gentleman should talk to those of his colleagues who helped set the contract. I am ...
Oliver Heald | 505 c113-4WH (Link to this contribution) As my hon. Friend knows, the Cambridge and Peterborough part of the line has not been quite so bad, ...
Kelvin Hopkins | 505 c113WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady talks about punishing First Capital Connect. Given all that she has said, it strikes m...
Anne Main | 505 c117-8WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman keeps barking on about the continent of Europe. Perhaps he might cast his mind ba...
Kelvin Hopkins | 505 c116-7WH (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the Government would be rather worried if I started to speak on their behalf. I am su...
Stephen Hammond | 505 c118WH (Link to this contribution) This is the second debate in two days in which I have been fortunate enough to listen to the hon. Ge...
Kelvin Hopkins | 505 c118WH (Link to this contribution) I am very happy to talk about British Rail. The former rail regulator, Tom Winsor, said in this buil...
Nadine Dorries | 505 c118WH (Link to this contribution) I have the hugest respect for the hon. Gentleman, and we frequently travelled home together on the t...
Kelvin Hopkins | 505 c118WH (Link to this contribution) We have seen a rapid growth in the economy with vast numbers of new jobs, particularly in the south-...
Anne Main | 505 c116WH (Link to this contribution) I note the hon. Gentleman's union leanings, which I find very interesting, but will he condemn the G...
Kelvin Hopkins | 505 c119WH (Link to this contribution) I much enjoyed my train journeys and conversations with the hon. Lady, although we did not talk abou...
Speaker | 505 c119WH (Link to this contribution) Order. A few Members still wish to catch my eye, so I remind everyone to be co-operative.
Patrick Hall | 505 c121-2WH (Link to this contribution) I wish to make a short contribution to the debate, which was secured by the hon. Member for St. Alba...
James Clappison | 505 c120-1WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. She, too, has defended her constituents' interests and she is ri...
Nadine Dorries | 505 c120WH (Link to this contribution) Moments before we came into the debate, we received an almost self-congratulatory e-mail from First ...
James Clappison | 505 c119WH (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Luton, North (Kelvin Hopkins), who is a regular commu...
James Clappison | 505 c120WH (Link to this contribution) Yes, of course I will give way to my hon. Friend, whom I recognise as another veteran of the Thamesl...
John McDonnell | 505 c122-3WH (Link to this contribution) I accept the point that my hon. Friend makes. I should prefer the franchise to be withdrawn and the ...
Speaker | 505 c123WH (Link to this contribution) I ask the hon. Member for Mid-Bedfordshire (Nadine Dorries) to make her remarks brief, so that we ca...
Patrick Hall | 505 c123WH (Link to this contribution) That is a very sensible suggestion, and I hope that the Minister will respond accordingly, perhaps t...
Tom Brake | 505 c124-6WH (Link to this contribution) I want to start by congratulating the hon. Member for St. Albans (Anne Main) on securing this debate...
Nadine Dorries | 505 c123-4WH (Link to this contribution) I shall be brief. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for St. Albans (Anne Main) on securing th...
Stephen Hammond | 505 c126-7WH (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to contribute to this debate today, as it was to contribute to a debate on ra...
Chris Mole | 505 c127WH (Link to this contribution) I assure the hon. Gentleman that the franchises are let on the basis that the Government expect the ...
Kelvin Hopkins | 505 c126WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman mentioned Berlin. Two years ago, I was with the Rail Freight Group in Berlin and ...
Tom Brake | 505 c126WH (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I think that he has made his position on this issue...
Chris Mole | 505 c129WH (Link to this contribution) At times the service has been atrocious, involving delays, cancellations and poor customer care. Pas...
Anne Main | 505 c129WH (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for that. I have just skimmed a copy of the letter for the purposes of Hansard....
Stephen Hammond | 505 c128-9WH (Link to this contribution) If the Minister cares to write to me again to clarify his letter, I will be able to answer that ques...
Chris Mole | 505 c129WH (Link to this contribution) I, too, congratulate the hon. Member for St. Albans (Anne Main) on securing this debate, which I kno...
Stephen Hammond | 505 c128WH (Link to this contribution) The Minister is admitting to everybody that he accepts that the Government are prepared to let franc...
Chris Mole | 505 c128WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman said that he believes that a majority of train companies rely on rest day rosteri...
Anne Main | 505 c129WH (Link to this contribution) The Minister is reiterating the timeline of catastrophe that my speech touched on. I want to know wh...
Chris Mole | 505 c130WH (Link to this contribution) As has been made clear in statements to the House, Ministers were monitoring the situation from the ...
Chris Mole | 505 c130WH (Link to this contribution) As the disruption continued, First Capital Connect was progressively able to reduce the planned numb...
Anne Main | 505 c130WH (Link to this contribution) I am sorry if it is the last time, because there is an awful lot of detail. It is crucial that we kn...
Chris Mole | 505 c130WH (Link to this contribution) I have made it plain that Ministers were made aware when it was known for certain that concerted act...
Kelvin Hopkins | 505 c130WH (Link to this contribution) The Minister is talking about the reduced train service. The major problem beyond that was that the ...
Stephen Hammond | 505 c131WH (Link to this contribution) I think I just heard the Minister say that the problem was with 173 trains. I believe that in the ro...
Chris Mole | 505 c130-1WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend intervened at exactly the right point because I was about to say that First Capital C...
Chris Mole | 505 c131WH (Link to this contribution) I shall write to the hon. Gentleman as that is such a detailed question.
Chris Mole | 505 c131-2WH (Link to this contribution) That is another interesting question and I will write to the hon. Gentleman in response. We are cle...
Tom Brake | 505 c131WH (Link to this contribution) The Minister mentioned that the industry is about to carry out a review into the problems caused by ...
Stephen Hammond | 505 c132WH (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister clarify that he said what I think he said, which is that the company is close to b...
Chris Mole | 505 c132WH (Link to this contribution) That is not for me to judge. That is a matter for the train operating company to consider as part of...
Nadine Dorries | 505 c132WH (Link to this contribution) The Minister said that the compensation was not adequate. What does he think would be adequate?
Chris Mole | 505 c132WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend raises a reasonable point. First Capital Connect has started a recruitment campaign ...
Patrick Hall | 505 c132WH (Link to this contribution) The Minister is talking about driver recruitment and numbers. I notice that no one has said that the...
Chris Mole | 505 c132WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is clearly aware of the generalities of the framework and of the monitoring of ca...
Alistair Burt | 505 c108-9WH (Link to this contribution) I, too, offer an apology as I need to leave before the end of the debate. Before my hon. Friend leav...
Anne Main | 505 c109WH (Link to this contribution) I concur completely with those sentiments, and I want to touch on my hon. Friend's point. We are onl...
Anne Main | 505 c107WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend answers part of the question that I will put to the Under-Secretary of State for Tran...
Paul Burstow | 505 c107WH (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Lady on securing the debate. I know that she does a lot of work on behalf of...
Anne Main | 505 c108WH (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention and I shall certainly ask the Under-Secretary exact...
Anne Main | 505 c107WH (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for his valuable contribution and I will touch on that point later in my spee...
Stephen Hammond | 505 c107WH (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I can help my hon. Friend and my hon. Friend the Member for South-West Bedfordshire. It is n...
Anne Main | 505 c106-7WH (Link to this contribution) I will talk about whether the franchise should be removed or whether it should stay with the company...
Andrew Selous | 505 c107WH (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way, and I offer my apologies that I cannot sta...
Speaker | 505 c106WH (Link to this contribution) Order. Before I call the hon. Member for St. Albans, let me say to hon. Members that it might be hel...
Anne Main | 505 c106WH (Link to this contribution) I am not aware of that particular incident, but I know that commuters in my constituency are experie...
Andrew Pelling | 505 c106WH (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way as I know she wants to make progress. She has been lea...
Anne Main | 505 c106WH (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Ms Walley. It is a delight to serve under your chairmanship today in this important debat...
Jacqui Lait | 505 c106WH (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend because my constituents have exactly the same problems as the ones s...
Subjects
Industrial disputes Franchises Railways Timetables Train operating companies First Capital Connect
Link
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