11/12/2011 The Politics Show East


11/12/2011

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Here in the East: We're at the North Norfolk Railway in Sheringham,

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where we're looking at what is coming down the line.

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What is in store for Aarau ways and will a new company make a break for

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1801 seconds

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Hello and welcome to the part of the programme that's just for us

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here in the East. I'm Amelia Reynolds and this is Sheringham

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Station on the North Norfolk Railway.

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Later, we get the first glimpse of the new Dutch company that is to

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run the trains here. And trains minister Theresa Villiers says she

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will look at improving our rail services. I know people in the area

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would like to see more improvements and we will be considering those it

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very seriously for the new franchise coming up and for the

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next period of rail funding which starts in 2014. This line was first

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opened in 1887. It was close by beating and then reopened by a

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heritage line in 1976. Joining me is a Trevor Eady, who used to be

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the commercial director at Norwich airport. He is in charge here. It

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has to be one of the most popular heritage lines? Yes, we hope we are

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in the top 10 for heritage lines in the country. 150,000 people had

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used us this year. That is incredible. So, a really important

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part of the tourist industry? hope that it will cause people to

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go to Sheringham as to a one-hour train and it going to the towns and

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it used the local shopping. It is not just about heritage? Yes, we

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educate people about evacuation and other educational activities

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throughout the week. Thank you very much.

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These heritage trains take half an hour to travel to Holt further down

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the line but across the road, you can still get a mainline train to

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Norwich. And from there it's just under two hours to London.

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Commuters make up 60% of passengers in the Greater Anglia Rail region.

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In addition, services from the capital run on the West Coast Main

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Line through Milton Keynes. Or the East Coast rail line through

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Peterborough, while First Capital Connect run trains to Bedford and

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to Cambridge. The Government announced last week that a new line

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from Bedford to Oxford will go ahead sooner than expected. And

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High Speed Two is expected to cut through the far west of this region,

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although a decision on the �32 billion project has now been

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delayed until the new year. New lines are very welcome but this

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region has some of the most crowded trains in Europe. But next week,

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MPs will be campaigning for greater investment in our railways at a

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summit about regional services. Andrew Sinclair reports.

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This is probably the line most in need of improvement, the InterCity

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service from London to Norwich. 71 times a day, it sweeps through the

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countryside of Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, carrying 9 million

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passengers a year. We have had 15% growth since we started the

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franchise in 2004. An extra 50,000 people per day. It is a popular

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railway. It is feeding the important towns of East Anglia and

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London. But this is a line with serious constraints we leave London

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at 90mph. For the first 20 miles there is plenty of track, and

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trains can easily overtake, but at Shenfield it goes down to one line

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in each direction all the way to Norwich. It's a busy line, shared

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with freight and commuter services this is where delays often occur.

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It is one of the busiest two-track railways in the country. You can

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only use the railway you have got and that the speed of the services

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that run on it. So does frustrate our ability to improve journey

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times. Improving journey times is what MPs along this track are keen

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to see. Extra passing loops like these at Witham would help and if

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the level crossings were upgraded, trains would be allowed to go

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through them faster. With the National Express franchise coming

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to an end and Network Rail drawing up a list of spending priorities,

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two of our MPs have decided to call a rail summit to get all interested

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parties together to find a way of making improvements. What we are

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looking for his proper investment that comes in a, in a once and

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regeneration kind of opportunity to get our economy -- communities of

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moving better and to benefit those used for business. This is a huge

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deal. Nobody has campaigned to have a kind over up rows service that

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the rest of the country enjoys. If we do not do anything, it will be

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quicker to get to Brussels and to get to Norwich. We are asking for a

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planner, deliverable over the long term and structured properly.

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MPs are main argument is it an economic one. They have seized on a

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report done by the old East of England Development Agency which it

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concluded that if this route was upgraded, it would be worth �3.5

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billion up to the local economy. Across the region, there are

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various campaigns under way for rail improvements - the call to

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upgrade the Fen Line. The demand for a proper East-West rail link.

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MPs believe there is still a future for rail, it just needs some money

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and commitment. Well, this week the rail minister,

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Theresa Villiers, took the train to Norwic, which by the way was late.

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Andrew Sinclair met her at the station and began by asking about

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her impressions of the service. This line is crucially important to

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the economy of this area. That is one of the reasons are why there

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are improvements to the infrastructure on the way. But I

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understand people's aspirations to see improvements in the future. We

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hope we can deliver them. But if you look across Arab region, there

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are calls to improve the friend line and, they are caused to

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improve the Stansted Express, to have an East-West rail link, this

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seemed to be so many demands at the moment to improve infrastructure.

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Well, a crucial way to improve those demands is to make sure the

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cost of running the railways comes down and also to make sure we bear

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down on the cost of delivering infrastructure upgrade. I think we

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have a real chance of doing that. And although we have big programmes

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coming up like Thames link which will benefit parts of the region

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that your Channel's -- you shall serve, their other areas of and if

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we are able to deliver those, we have -- the rail industry has to

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step up and reduce costs. That is why we have a major reform

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programme in response to the report produced by Sir Roy McNulty who

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thought ready to take billions and cost out of the railways were the

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right reforms. How big a challenge is it? He it is very tough, there

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is no doubt that costs have spiralled on the railways despite

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its great success with increasing passenger numbers. We have not seen

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the unit costs come down. That is a real concern for stop you feel

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optimistic about the future of rail travel? Absolutely. We are

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undertaking a programme which is unprecedented since the Victorian

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area -- era. The Chancellor has placed a higher priority on

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transport investment, and rail in particular. We are delivering

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important improvement on our existing nail right work -- rail

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network because it is crucial for a healthy and flourishing economy.

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Joining me are Norman Lamb, the Lib Dem MP and also their railway

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journalist Philip Sutton. Norman Lamb, promising words from the

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minister but are you sure we are going to get a real improvement on

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this Norwich to London line? Quite optimistic. Abellio are serious

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railway people. They have a good reputation on other rail franchises.

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And the way they run of the franchise, manage the staff,

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concentrating on reliability, is the key thing. They also improve

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ticketing arrangements with new ticketing machines and having it

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every member of staff with a smart phone so they can tell you how long

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they will take to sort every problem out. It could be �3.5

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billion of for the local economy, we have to unlock that?

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absolutely have got to. Rail infrastructure is also important

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for the economy and we could do better if we had a good system.

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Philip's cousin, wide you think the government has brought forward the

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improvements for the East West link section from Oxford to Bedford? Is

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it good news? It is very good news. It is a shame it has not happened

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before. There was an opportunity to extended to Cambridge. That could

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happen. It could, but part of the line has been built over. But if

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there is the political will, it needs to be done. You have the

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summit next week, what you think will be achieved? I think it is

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important for MPs to bring people together, hold organisations to

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account. Network Rail is also critical in this. They are

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responsible for the infrastructure, the signalling and so forth. I am

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not satisfied with their performance in the East of England.

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We have to make sure that they improve their performance, get on

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with the improvement works to the overhead lines in Essex, because

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getting the infrastructure right will improve reliability. Philip

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Sutton, what about the high speed to line? �32 billion is the price

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tag on it, value-for-money? I think so. It is a shame it has taken so

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long to get this far. There is talk of a postponement because of the

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issue with the Chilterns. But in France and Spain and Italy, they

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have built high-speed lines in the time it that we have been talking

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about it. So, slow of the what? in European countries, you have

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high-speed lines which is due to places very fast. We need to help

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the economy grow, particularly in the North of England, where Connect

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ability to London is very important. Briefly, Philip Sutton, row

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passengers' bugbear is the cost of rail travel -- cover the cost of

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rail trouble. I would agree. Particularly for families

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travelling to London, they would choose the car over the train. We

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have to cap the prices. You have made moves towards that? Yes, Lib

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Dems in government have a been able to reduce the price increase. It is

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now only RPI plus 1%. Norman Lamb, more from you, Philip Sutton thank

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you. Now stations in the east of the

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region will see a change next year when a new company takes over the

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franchise. The history is complicated though. Let's take a

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look. In 1994, British Rail was broken up under John Major. In 1997,

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the first franchise to Norwich after privatisation went to First

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after privatisation went to First Great Eastern. In 2004, after the

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creation of the Greater Anglia Region the franchise was awarded to

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National Express under the brand name "One". In 2008, One was

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rebranded National Express East Anglia. This year, Abellio, a Dutch

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company, was awarded the franchise and it will start running the

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and it will start running the trains next year. But the company

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is already proving controversial after fears that 4,000 peak hour

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seats could be lost in 2012. Our Business Correspondent Richard Bond

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has been looking at their plans. Ever travelled on a Dutch train?

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Well they're a cut above. Modern, clean, punctual. Some are even

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double decker. Early next year a subsidiary of the Dutch state

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railway will take over the Greater Anglia franchise. But dismiss from

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your head the idea that our trains will resemble this one. The Dutch

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railways are better than ours because the Government has invested

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vast sums in them over many decades. When Abellio takes charge of

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Greater Anglia in February it will inherit the same old trains that

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National Express currently operates, with the same old infrastructure.

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And its franchise will only last for 29 months. Hardly long enough

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to effect a transformation. But hang on, Beckett is a chance that

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things could get better. To find out how, I have come to Leeds will

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stop Since 2004, Abellio has run Northern Rail. It's one of two UK

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franchises Abellio already operates. So how's it doing? They are

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carrying 30 it more passengers now. Overcrowding became a problem

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quickly and they are put together leap -- innovative deals to do

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something about it. In 2004, punctuality was 83%. It's now 90%.

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I think they have been able to run the timetable and stick to it. We

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do have delays, but that is caused by tabling problems. The service is

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run roughly to time. This cycle point just outside Leeds station is

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similar to one Abellio plans to build in Chelmsford. Along with

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things like cleaner stations and better customer infomation, it's

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one of the relatively low budget ways in which improvements will be

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made. The problem is that we're talking about a 2.5 year time frame.

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So a big investment in new trains will not be possible. We will keep

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the trains that are there, and give them an uplifting in getting the

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passenger experience is right. But it will not be a full-scale

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replacement. But there are already concerns about Abellio's plans to

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send back some of the 188 extra carriages added to the Greater

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Anglia network by National Express, or NX EA. Clearly, passengers who

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had received at the 188 extra coaches will have some concerns

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about the loss of 36 passenger -- the loss of 36. Passenger figures

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will be meeting with Abellio to discuss this and crowding concerns

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will be in a our minds. We want to modernise the fleet and by doing

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that, you can use a few lesser vehicles or in the fleet while

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still using the same service. If you compare our plans are with

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those of our rivals and we were bidding, there will be eight

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vehicles less in service but that is not in the peak services.

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Abellio will hope to run our railways well enough to win a 15-

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year franchise from 2014. That would allow it to invest in new

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fleets of trains to provide the faster services everybody craves.

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But for the time being, we must wait.

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Overcrowding is an issue in this region. On Monday, first capital

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connector are starting their 12 carriage longer trains. And that

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will be welcome news for commuters. This is the overcrowding they

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endure on the line at the moment. Joining me and Norman Lamb is a

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representative of the rare professional magazine. We do so

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that overcrowding is the single biggest issue facing commuters at

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the moment? He it is one of the main issues. What a Passenger Focus

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say is that punctuality is slightly ahead of that. The main thing is

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that you want to get your destination and the second thing is

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that to expect to get a seat because you have paid a lot of

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money. It is the thing that people really complain about. It is a

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slightly confusing picture, Norman Lamb, when we have this Bedford

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line bringing more carriages on, yet Abellio say that they are going

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to take carriages away? Yes, I met them this week and I put this

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directly to them. They absolutely insist that this should not have

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any impact on overcrowding. In other words, they are taking sees

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off-peak services are where there is spare capacity. We will have to

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hold them to account on that. They play it should not have any effect.

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We convinced by them? Real are serious people and they were

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convinced that that was the case. Having experienced standing up from

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London to Colchester with all my luggage, it is a pain so I

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completely understand why it is important. Having said that,

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reliability is the most important thing. Are you optimistic that

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things will change? It will be interesting to see. Some of the

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other complaints of the general scruffiness of the rolling stock,

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length of journeys, Abellio are going to be cleaning the trains are

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as is usual at the start of a new franchise. They will not be

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different rates, but they will be cleaner. It is only a short

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franchise. There is a limit to what they will be able to achieve.

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is a limit, but in a way, it is the perfect opportunity for them to

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demonstrate how good they are. If they are going to have a chance of

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winning the main franchise of 15 years, there was to demonstrate in

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this 29 months that they are a good operator. I am interested in what

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you think about franchises and the system. Is it the best way to

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operate a railway? Well, that is an interesting question. Some

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franchises work well, some do not. Not many other countries have a

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system like ours where it is so split with so many different train

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operators. There are longer franchises like Chilson, where they

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have done a lot it was to the line. -- Jill Turner. -- Chilterns. So it

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depends, there might be a case for having some that are taken back

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into state ownership and keeping the pot visible once run by others.

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Briefly, Norman Lamb, you will be looking closely at what Abellio

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will be doing? Yes, we will be holding them to account. Thank you

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both very much. Well, that's all we've got time for.

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It's also the end of the series. But we'll be back next year With a

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brand-new programme called Sunday Politics. We look forward to your

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