Renationalise troubled East Coast Main Line, urge MPs
Sanctimony of Chris Grayling
SENIOR LABOUR MPs have called for the collapsing East Coast Main Line rail franchise run by Virgin and Stagecoach to be renationalised.
Former Shadow Transport Secretary Mary Creagh said a directly operated company should now run trains on the line.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling is assessing how best the line, which serves Yorkshire, should be run until a new franchise is introduced in 2020.
During a Commons statement on the West Coast line, Wakefield MP Ms Creagh said: “I came running over here today in eager anticipation of hearing him say he was going to set up a directly operated rail company, along the models of the one we had in 2009 which delivered £1bn back to the taxpayer over those six short years.
“Can he tell the House what you are doing to get that East Coast Main Line franchise back on track, delivering for passengers, staff and taxpayers?”
Ms Creagh added: “And can he make sure there is no announcement snuck out in the middle of recess?”
Leeds West MP Rachel Reeves said public ownership would be “a very sensible option” and called for Virgin-Stagecoach to face penalties, while Dewsbury MP Paula Sherriff quipped it would be “verging on the ridiculous” if the companies got the contract again in 2020.
The Transport Secretary promised to update MPs when he takes a decision but stressed: “It’s not just about me being ready to take a decision, it’s also about knowing that when I take that decision, that whichever option I take is ready to happen.”
Mr Grayling also pledged to Hull North MP Diana Johnson to meet representatives from the city about cross-Pennine rail links, after former Transport Secretary Lord Adonis accused him of doing “nothing” to bring about a “Crossrail for the North”.
A Department for Transport spokesman highlighted £3bn of upgrades to the existing transPennine route, and work to help Transport for the North (TfN) produce a business case for “Northern Powerhouse Rail” by 2019. TfN will take up its statutory powers at an inaugural board meeting on April 5 in Liverpool.
What are you doing to get the line delivering for passengers? Labour MP for Wakefield Mary Creagh.
IT WOULD be remiss not to challenge Chris Grayling’s sanctimony after the Transport Secretary, in response to Labour attacks, made a virtue of his presence in Parliament to brief MPs on the franchise process for HS2.
Talk about double standards. After all, this is the very same Minister who has snubbed the Commons on several occasions when Yorkshire MPs like Diana Johnson, Dan Jarvis and others have tried to hold him to account over the Northern Powerhouse – they have, in fairness, been far more effective than Labour’s frontbench team.
The growing suspicion that Mr Grayling only makes a Ministerial statement when he has a positive announcement to make was self-evident when Wakefield MP Mary Creagh, and her Leeds counterpart Rachel Reeves, sought assurances that Parliament’s Easter recess will not be exploited by the Department for Transport to slip out an announcement on the future operation of the East Coast Main Line after Stagecoach and Virgin controversially foreclosed the existing franchise.
At a time when there’s so much mistrust in Mr Grayling, the Minister will never be forgiven if he chooses to go back on his word, revert to type and tries to circumvent Parliament on an issue which has, in fact, brought the entire rail privatisation policy into question.
If he wants to build bridges with MPs, and demonstrate that he does understand the residual anger that still exists in the North over his many broken promises and snubs, he can start by pledging to be more transparent and accountable at all times – and not just when it suits his own timetable.