Transport Select Committee

03/03/2009 by admin.

Some excellent sparring at the recent meeting of the Transport Select Committee when Lord Adonis appeared: 

Philip Hollobone (MP for Kettering): As Minister of State, how often do you travel by overground train?

Lord Adonis: Every week, because I am out and about on the railways, as you would expect me to be. Indeed, I was passing through your constituency on a train last Friday on the way to Derby to visit Bombardier, one of our excellent train manufacturers. I stopped at East Midlands Parkway to see what was going on there. I know you have raised issues about crowding on trains south of Kettering and I was keen to see myself the experience of passengers on that line. I then travelled on the Trans-Pennine Express across from Manchester to Leeds. I have been very keen to see the quality of trans-Pennine services, which of course is a very big growth market for the railways. I came down on the National Express east coast. Every week I am on the railways. At weekends I am on the tube as well and often on the buses, so I think I see quite a lot of the transport system at first hand.

 Mr Hollobone: When you went through Kettering, did you do so at high speed or did you stop at the station?

Lord Adonis: We did not stop at Kettering, no.

Q269 Mr Hollobone: That is one of the problems that my constituents face. The number of trains northbound from Kettering to Leicester has been precisely halved since the start of the year. My constituents’ train fares have gone up 7% this year on top of 7% the previous year.

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