Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Wales – in the House of Commons at 11:30 am on 21 March 2007.
Nick Ainger
Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Wales Office
11:30,
21 March 2007
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I regularly meet ministerial colleagues and others to discuss issues affecting Wales, including rail services. There has been a very encouraging rise in rail use over recent years. There are now more than 1 billion passenger journeys every year throughout the UK—a 35 per cent. increase on the 1995-96 figure.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
