Heidi Alexander MP: speeches

Speeches

• 14 Jan 2026 · Northern Powerhouse Rail · Hansard source

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  I would be very happy to join the meeting I have already committed to on behalf of the Rail Minister; I think that would be appropriate, given the breadth of issues that have been raised today. On the issue of a direct service from Stoke to Manchester airport, I know that West Midlands Railway is considering the feasibility of amending its Stafford to Crewe service.

• 14 Jan 2026 · Northern Powerhouse Rail · Hansard source

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  I could not have put it better myself. My hon. Friend is right that the public want us to be ambitious for the north and to make sure that the benefits of economic growth are spread fairly across the country. That is precisely what our announcements today on Northern Powerhouse Rail will do.

• 14 Jan 2026 · Northern Powerhouse Rail · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising the issue of the Yarnfield compound; I am not sure that she and I have actually spoken about it directly before. If she could write to me with more detail, I would be happy to come back to her to let her and her constituents know what more we can do to provide certainty on the way forward.

• 14 Jan 2026 · Northern Powerhouse Rail · Hansard source

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  The Chair of the Transport Committee is completely right that the proposals we are announcing today will deliver rail services for the north that are comparable to those in London and the south-east—a “turn up and go” railway where people do not have to check the timetable before they go to the station, because they know that a train will be there within a reasonable timeframe and that if they miss their train, they will not have to wait an hour for the next one. She is right to press me on when more information about the different phases will become available. The first phase of improvement relates to the corridors into Leeds from Sheffield, Bradford and York; we will be progressing with urgency on those, as well as the plans for the new line between Manchester and Liverpool. Phase 3 of NPR relates to further trans-Pennine improvements beyond the trans-Pennine route upgrade, and we will say more in due course about our plans for Birmingham to Manchester, noting that the delivery of those plans will come after NPR has been completed.

• 14 Jan 2026 · Northern Powerhouse Rail · Hansard source

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  As I said to my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Derbyshire (Jonathan Davies), we are keeping this matter under review. We had to take the difficult decision not to fund it in the spending review. That is not to say that the constituents of my hon. Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (James Naish) are not benefiting from improvements on the railway—I know that the Minister for Local Transport is particularly excited about the new fleet of East Midlands Railway trains, which are providing a much better passenger experience for my hon. Friend’s constituents. We are determined to keep building on those sorts of improvements.

• 14 Jan 2026 · Northern Powerhouse Rail · Hansard source

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  I can wholeheartedly assure the hon. Member that this announcement is good news for Bradford station. I have been working closely with Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, the leader of Bradford Council, and Tracy Brabin, the Mayor of West Yorkshire. We will be pressing forward with the work that is already under way with the council on a business case for Bradford station, and I am conscious that in doing so, we will be putting a young, dynamic city of 500,000 people at the heart of the northern rail network. We expect to reach decisions on the station by summer of this year, and we have made funding available to then move forward into detailed design, subject to the conclusions of that business case.

• 14 Jan 2026 · Northern Powerhouse Rail · Hansard source

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  One of the things we have to achieve through Northern Powerhouse Rail is making sure that young people growing up in towns and smaller cities around the big conurbations can easily access the high-quality jobs in places such as Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle. I assure my hon. Friend that this Government’s approach is about investing in skills, investing in transport and investing in opportunities for the future.

• 14 Jan 2026 · Northern Powerhouse Rail · Hansard source

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  We are committed to giving everyone in Yorkshire the transport networks they deserve. As I said in response to my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts), we want to work with Mayor Oliver Coppard to explore further the potential of tram-train. I know she has been a fearsome advocate for the Penistone line in her constituency, and further engagement is going on with Kirklees council on that issue.

• 14 Jan 2026 · Northern Powerhouse Rail · Hansard source

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  I would be very happy to organise a meeting between my hon. Friend and the Rail Minister. He refers to some of the congestion challenges on the west coast main line with regard to train paths and putting on new services. That is why we have taken this long-term strategic decision today, recognising that we will have to address congestion and capacity challenges in that part of the rail network. As I say, I will be happy to organise that meeting for him.

• 14 Jan 2026 · Northern Powerhouse Rail · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend and I have been speaking about the issue of tram-trains in recent months, and I have also had more recent conversations with the Mayor of South Yorkshire about his aspirations in that regard. I look forward to working closely with him to ensure that we integrate properly the benefits that will be brought through Northern Powerhouse Rail, including schemes that my hon. Friend wants to be promoted in the South Yorkshire combined authority area.

• 14 Jan 2026 · Northern Powerhouse Rail · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend has championed the station in Bradford enormously over recent years, and I can assure him that we will press forward with the work that is already under way with the council on a business case for the station. We will reach decisions by the summer of this year. We have made funding available to then move forward into detailed design, pending those decisions.

• 8 Jan 2026 · Economic Growth: Transport System · Hansard source

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  I appreciate what a fearsome and impatient advocate my hon. Friend is for her constituency, and I am sure she will leave no stone unturned in exploring potential funding options with local partners to reopen some of those stations. I will gladly ask the Rail Minister to sit down with her to discuss the art of the possible.

• 8 Jan 2026 · Economic Growth: Transport System · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman has raised the question of accessibility at this station with me at Transport questions, and he is right to say that it is one of the schemes being considered as part of the Access for All programme. He is also right to say that decisions about that scheme are literally on my desk at the moment. He does not have too long to wait until we make an announcement about which schemes we will be taking forward, both for further design work and to construction.

• 8 Jan 2026 · Economic Growth: Transport System · Hansard source

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  I would be very happy to ask the Rail Minister to meet my hon. Friend. I fully appreciate the importance of direct services to London, and we will make sure that we look at the detail of what has happened in this situation and see whether any mitigations can be put in place.

• 8 Jan 2026 · Economic Growth: Transport System · Hansard source

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  Transport is a key enabler of economic growth. That is why we are investing £92 billion to maintain and modernise our roads and railways, to deliver major projects such as HS2 and East West Rail, and to support leaders in our towns and cities to improve local public transport networks. This will strengthen connectivity, unlock productivity and support a thriving UK economy.

• 8 Jan 2026 · Economic Growth: Transport System · Hansard source

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  I would be happy to ask the Roads Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield and Rothwell (Simon Lightwood), to meet my hon. Friend, who has campaigned hard to secure a viable future for Doncaster Sheffield airport, and I also appreciate the importance of this junction. We have given a significant amount of funding to the South Yorkshire mayoral combined authority to determine what its local investment priorities are. I encourage her to continue discussions with the Mayor of South Yorkshire to that effect.

• 8 Jan 2026 · Economic Growth: Transport System · Hansard source

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  I would be happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss these issues. I am aware of the significance of the Ely-Haughley junction improvements. It was not possible to fund that scheme in the spending review, but it is part of the longer-term pipeline that we are looking at, not least because of the important freight links to the port in Felixstowe that could be improved. I would be happy to have a further conversation on the wider issues.

• 8 Jan 2026 · Economic Growth: Transport System · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman will be aware that we are freezing fuel duty until August this year. We need to get the balance right in terms of securing income for the public finances, but I also point out that we are investing a record amount in highways maintenance—£1.6 billion last year, which is £500 million more than was spent the year before, under his Government. We will double investment in roads maintenance by the end of this Parliament, and that is what people using our roads want to see.

• 8 Jan 2026 · Economic Growth: Transport System · Hansard source

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  I am fully aware of how important South Western Railway is to the hon. Lady’s constituency and to the economic performance of the south-east as a whole. I can give her good news: we have appointed a new integrated managing director of South Western, who is responsible for both the infrastructure and the train operations. I will be sure to write to the hon. Lady with more details about potential improvements to the signalling system, so that we can see the greater levels of reliability and punctuality that I know her constituents want to see.

• 8 Jan 2026 · Rail Fares · Hansard source

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  Many of the cheapest fares on LNER are still available. In the long-distance fare trials, the vast majority of people will benefit from the simplified ticketing system. Of course, as these trials take place, we will want to review this process and ensure that we are providing good value for money for as many of the travelling public as possible.

• 8 Jan 2026 · Rail Fares · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is completely right to raise the issue of affordability for the travelling public. After the relentless fare hikes under the last Government—ticket prices went up by 60%—I think the announcement by this Labour Government will be welcomed by millions of people who are using our trains this year. I will certainly ask the Rail Minister to sit down with my hon. Friend to discuss his amendment. I can assure him that as we set up Great British Railways, affordability will be a key priority for that new organisation, alongside balancing costs for taxpayers.

• 8 Jan 2026 · Rail Fares · Hansard source

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  As we extend contactless ticketing, passengers will benefit from simpler, more flexible travel, and the majority of single tickets will be the same price or even lower. We do not want this positive change to have any perverse impacts, so we will monitor it as it beds in.

• 8 Jan 2026 · Rail Fares · Hansard source

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  This Government are committed to bringing the cost of living down, while supporting opportunity and aspiration across the whole of the UK. From March, regulated rail fares will be frozen for the first time in 30 years, meaning that over 1 billion journeys can be made in the coming year for the same price as this year. On top of that, the great British rail sale has returned, offering discounts on over 3 million tickets, making rail travel more affordable for everyone.

• 8 Jan 2026 · Transport for London: Commuter Services · Hansard source

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  I recognise how disruptive the closure of Hammersmith bridge has been to people in my hon. Friend’s part of London. I understand that the Minister for Roads, my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield and Rothwell (Simon Lightwood), will be convening a further meeting of the Hammersmith bridge taskforce in the near future to discuss next steps for the project. Officials will be in touch with key local stakeholders to arrange that in due course.

• 8 Jan 2026 · Transport for London: Commuter Services · Hansard source

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  The discussions at the moment are limited to the potential transfer of services that form part of the Great Northern inner network. This is a fiendishly complicated thing to do, but I do recognise the benefits of bringing certain commuter lines into London Overground and making them part of that network, as long as there is agreement with the local authorities representing those further along the line. We will continue those discussions with the Mayor of London and Transport for London to bring reliable, high-quality public transport services to the people of London.