High-speed Rail

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Education – in the House of Commons at 4:02 pm on 24 March 2014.

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Photo of Patrick McLoughlin Patrick McLoughlin The Secretary of State for Transport 4:02, 24 March 2014

May I first put on the record my appreciation for the contribution my right hon. Friend made to this project? He was also the last Minister to meet Hitachi in Japan and so might have had a great influence on its decision to move its rail headquarters to the UK. I congratulate him on that. He is absolutely right; some £38.5 billion will be invested in the rail network over the next five years, excluding the money being spent on HS2. It is absolutely essential that we make that long-term investment in our railways.