General Duties of the Franchising Director

Part of Orders of the Day — Railways Bill – in the House of Commons at 7:30 pm on 1 November 1993.

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Photo of Mr Brian Wilson Mr Brian Wilson , Cunninghame North 7:30, 1 November 1993

The Minister is welcome to tell us how many town centres he has visited where the first thing that the privatised operator did was sell off the bus station in the town centre for commercial gain. An awful lot more money can be made by selling off town centre property than by using it as a bus station. We have an exact parallel between that and what could happen with our great railway stations for which that fate is predicted.

I shall make a point that is peculiar to Glasgow, as I had discussions last week with the chairman of the Strathclyde passenger transport executive. As a result of public investment, Central station is now magnificent. As the Minister will be aware, every penny that went into the low-level station, which is part of the Argyll line, was paid for by local taxpayers through the Strathclyde passenger transport executive. One hundred per cent. of the trains that use that station are subsidised by it. The Strathclyde passenger transport executive subsidises 65 per cent. of the trains that use the high-level station.

Is the Minister seriously telling us that the Strathclyde passenger transport executive is now to subsidise a private train operator to pay charges to a private station operator for the privilege of using assets and facilities, which, on behalf of the local taxpayer, it has already financed?

Why do the Government have such contempt for taxpayers that they are prepared to see them conned and diddled in every way possible, paying again and again for the assets that they have financed in the first place?

Throughout the country there is an enormous range of qualities in station facilities. By and large, where InterCity has been in charge—there is money in the InterCity system —the public sector stations are good and have excellent facilities. The Minister may dispute that; he may despise anything that the public sector does, but the stations that the Government seek to franchise are good.

One example that was pointed out to me was the comparison between York and Chester. Both cities are the same size, but are on opposite sides of the country. York has an excellent station, which was financed through InterCity; Chester has a pathetic, rundown station because there is no money in the regional railways system. That is the problem. Until now, the railways were given £850 million of subsidy, not £2 billion. That is the contrast.

Where will the money come from? Will it come through Railtrack, through the franchising director or from the franchisees? Is there any guarantee that the stations that have been neglected until now will not continue to decline because of that fundamental lack of money in the system, as proposed by the Secretary of State?