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HANSARD High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill (Instruction) (No. 3)I beg to move, That it be an instruction to the Select Committee to which the High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill is committed to deal with the Bill as follows: (1) The…21 May 2024HANSARD High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill (Instruction) (No. 3)The motion instructs the High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Bill Select Committee to resume its work of scrutinising the Bill. To put it simply, the Bill was always going to…21 May 2024HANSARD High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill (Instruction) (No. 3)I had not really started the eulogy yet, but I do believe this is the right vehicle. The Select Committee on the Bill had already been set up, and it was set up to look at not…21 May 2024HANSARD High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill (Instruction) (No. 3)I will give way one last time.21 May 2024HANSARD High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill (Instruction) (No. 3)My right hon. Friend obviously believes the point he makes, but almost two years ago—I think it was back in June 2022—after Second Reading, this House passed the motion that has…21 May 2024HANSARD High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill (Instruction) (No. 3)The route selected as the preferred route, which the Bill Committee was tasked with hearing petitions on, remains exactly the same route as was previously identified. With…21 May 2024HANSARD High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill (Instruction) (No. 3)To be clear, I give a commitment that HS2 will not be going through my hon. Friend’s constituency, and therefore any petitions that were going to be relevant should lapse. This is…21 May 2024HANSARD High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill (Instruction) (No. 3)I cannot give the hon. Gentleman an exact and firm date, but I am seeking to put the Bill Committee back on track, rather than restart the entire process—something that has been…21 May 2024HANSARD High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill (Instruction) (No. 3)I take the hon. Member’s point. It comes down to choices, and the choice as led by the Prime Minister was to cancel the stages of HS2 north of Handsacre and dedicate those moneys…21 May 2024HANSARD High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill (Instruction) (No. 3)We have committed to delivering a faster route between Leeds and Bradford that will bring the journey time down to 13 minutes; that commitment is there. Look, it comes down to…21 May 2024HANSARD High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill (Instruction) (No. 3)I will not give way again; I will finish so that others can speak. We will be upgrading the connections between Manchester and Sheffield, between Leeds and Sheffield, between…21 May 2024HANSARD High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill (Instruction) (No. 3)With the leave of the House, I commend the motion to the House. As I said earlier, today’s debate marks an important step forward in improving travel in the north, and I thank all…21 May 2024HANSARD High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill (Instruction) (No. 3)I will not take any interventions because of time. Let me touch on some of the other points raised. In reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South, just to be…21 May 2024HANSARDReliability of Rail ServicesPerformance varies across the network and is dependent on both reliable infrastructure and strong operator performance. Where we have both, as on Greater Anglia, passengers enjoy…16 May 2024HANSARDReliability of Rail ServicesThe hon. Member is completely wrong. The pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Rail Reform Bill is being done right now by the Transport Committee. I think I am the final witness…16 May 2024HANSARDReliability of Rail ServicesThe hon. Member is absolutely correct that the Prime Minister’s Network North commitment means over £36 billion of former HS2 money is being put into other projects, chiefly in…16 May 2024HANSARDReliability of Rail ServicesThis is the folly of Labour’s nationalisation plan, because the best performing operator in terms of punctuality is Greater Anglia, and that one has the option that is coming up.…16 May 2024HANSARDReliability of Rail ServicesMy right hon. and learned Friend has been a champion of that project, and as he mentioned he met the Secretary of State to discuss it. HS2 is making provision for the project to…16 May 2024HANSARDReliability of Rail ServicesI do not agree with that assertion. Post privatisation—nationalisation would reverse this—passenger numbers have doubled, and £100 billion has been invested in the railways by…16 May 2024HANSARDRail Passenger NumbersThe local transport fund is a £4.7 billion fund that has been allocated to local authorities in the north and midlands to fund a wide range of transport measures. The funding…16 May 2024