Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 3:46 pm on 10 March 2010.
Chris Mole
Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport
3:46,
10 March 2010
The hon. Gentleman has gone to the heart of the concern. Of course, if one focuses only on commuters, one will perhaps take only one set of solutions from the opportunities that arise from reviewing the timetable. I was a regular commuter from Northampton to Canterbury at one time, and my journey involved several train changes. People have described to me some of the journeys that they now make, and they take advantage of being able to change at St. Pancras. The point was made on a number of occasions about people transferring from St. Pancras to the City. That may not be the best journey choice for someone who has been travelling on the high-speed line; they have an opportunity to change at Stratford International, then take a seven-minute ride into the City, which may be a better choice.
The timetable was developed following extensive research and feedback from stakeholders and the public over several years. I remind the hon. Member for Wimbledon that, despite his protestations, timetables are not written by the Department. Specifications cover the number of station stops, the frequency of trains and the times of the first and last services. May I point out to him the processes that the east coast main line services are undergoing? The Office of the Rail Regulator has developed the outline, and industry interests and the Department have engaged in an iterative process in defining the final timetable. Saying that the Department writes the timetable is not strictly correct.
Annotations
Mike Seery
Posted on 11 Mar 2010 10:24 am (Report this annotation)
Chris Mole MP demonstrates a complete lack of knowledge of the situation at Stratford. It takes at least 10 minutes to get from the Southeastern platforms via a bus and lengthy walk to Central line/ Jubilee line / National Rail platforms. The journey time is closer to 10 minutes and TfL's journey planner concurs that this is a 22 minute journey in total.
Amy Overy
Posted on 11 Mar 2010 7:22 pm (Report this annotation)
To add more clarity to this point, Stratford International and Stratford Domestic stations are in two separate locations linked by a shuttle bus. Therefore 7 minutes to travel to the City from Stratford is a completely disingenuous statement and shows the Minister's ignorance in this issue.