Transport – in the House of Commons at on 17 September 2020.
Elliot Colburn
Conservative, Carshalton and Wallington
What steps his Department is taking to improve rail infrastructure.
Andrew Stephenson
Assistant Whip, Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government continue to invest record amounts in our rail infrastructure, with £47.9 billion to be spent over the next five years.
Elliot Colburn
Conservative, Carshalton and Wallington
Getting more trains into Carshalton and Wallington stations is reliant on completing the Croydon bottleneck project to unblock congestion on the Brighton main line at Selhurst. Network Rail will finish its consultation on the project on Sunday. What assurances can the Minister give me that the Government will back the project and get more trains into Carshalton and Wallington stations?
Andrew Stephenson
Assistant Whip, Minister of State (Department for Transport)
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for continuing to champion transport improvements in his Constituency. My Department is currently considering an outline business case to progress the Croydon bottleneck scheme through our investment pipeline.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
