Environment, Transport and Local and Devolved Government Affairs

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:20 pm on 25 November 2004.

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Photo of Alistair Darling Alistair Darling The Secretary of State for Scotland, The Secretary of State for Transport 12:20, 25 November 2004

My hon. Friend knows that I sympathise with her remarks. I understand why it is necessary to make sure that two companies do not enter into a cartel, to the detriment of passengers. However, I have come across cases in different parts of the country in which better transport services have been provided through co-operation on timetables, sharing information and so on. I have raised that matter with the OFT in a meeting with its director general and in correspondence, and I know that my hon. Friend has raised it too. If it becomes problematic, we will need to return to it. If one is standing in Manchester or Leeds on a wet night waiting for a bus, it is of little comfort to know that one is protected against action by a cartel, when all one wants to see is a bus, and one does not care which bus it happens to be, so long as it turns up.

I expect to discuss the railways at great length on Second Reading, so I shall say a word or two about the road network.