Transport minister: "I'm looking forward to working with Bristol mayor"
Transport minister Patrick McLoughlin was in Bristol today for David Cameron's Cabinet meeting - and afterwards met bosses from First Great Western and Network Rail at Temple Meads station.
The minister said that he is looking forward to working with the city’s first elected mayor.
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Matthew Grolton (project and planning director), MD Patrick Hallgate, transport minister Patrick Mcloughlin and Mark Hopwood (managing director)
He went on to say that the problems surrounding the tendering process for the Great Western franchise should be ironed out by the end of the year.
Mr McLoughlin said: “This is a fantastic facility and a fantastic station and there has been a big increase in demand for rail travel in recent years. It is fantastic that such a great city as Bristol is going to get a great city to match its aspirations.”
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The minister said he saw the new mayor as a vital role for the city in terms of transport and business.
He said: “It will be a great help for me to be able to speak to one individual voice in the city. The elected may will be one clear single voice that we will be able to speak to directly.
“The mayor will be a major voice for Bristol. When I want to speak to someone about transport I can go directly to Boris and hopefully it will work the same way in Bristol.”
The city has been awarded £130 million to help pay for a new Rapid Transit System but some of the of the candidates have voiced objections to the scheme.
However, Mr McLoughlin is said he is willing to talk directly to the new mayor on a number of issues. He did not rule out moving the cash to another scheme but added that he was keen to work with the new mayor as soon as the election has been settled.
The row over the West Coast Mainline franchise has left a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the bidding to run train services between London and Bristol.
The bidding process has been put on hold after the Government was forced to admit it had made serious mistakes in the process.
Mr McLoughlin said: “We are holding a number of inquiries which are due to report by the end of the month. The hope is that once we have the findings then we will be able to continue in the bidding process.
“At the same time we want to make sure that Bristol and the south West will continue to get the train service it deserves.”
Comments
by J12345678
Tuesday, November 13 2012, 12:24AM
“Let's hope Bristol gets a transport/train system the users can afford, not just what the city deserves”
by davegould23
Tuesday, November 13 2012, 12:04AM
“Why would central government would want this £113m invested in a less-optimal way?
Labour originally made available ONLY for bus and road improvements and the potential loss of it is the main reason why the LibDems want to spend it on BRT2.
The only other reason was to encourage a competitor to First Bus. This may also be a redundant reason under a mayor.
Let us hope that the Tories and the new Mayor give us the power and the funding we need to at least bring Bristol up to basic standards in public transport.”
by Macadam2000
Monday, November 12 2012, 10:39PM
“Right so he said we could move the money away from BRT, so lets spend it on a light rail system that everyone wants and not just press on with an unpopular scheme just because they have the money.”
by harryreg_uk
Monday, November 12 2012, 6:41PM
“bet he was kept well clear of Fishponds and other monumentally messed up "road improvement" areas - think what good all that tax payers money could have done with a little bit of thought and actually listening to residents for once!”
by Tim_M
Monday, November 12 2012, 6:21PM
“"He did not rule out moving the cash to another scheme" - let's hope it's true!”
by katachua
Monday, November 12 2012, 6:04PM
“Interesting choice of words "At the same time we want to make sure that Bristol and the south West will continue to get the train service it deserves".
So we're going to keep the same rubbish level of service we get now - no improvements, no new stations, no local light rail?”
by Brizz_Tony
Monday, November 12 2012, 5:42PM
“I think I like Patrick McLoughlin. He has just driven a stake through the heart of the last desperate reason offered by the Lib Dems for not messing with BRT, and the stupid £50 million BRT2 route. Doubtless Gary Hopkins will disagree, but me and my new mate Pat know what's best for this fantastic city.”
by swrural
Monday, November 12 2012, 3:37PM
“The SoS used the word 'fantastic' a lot. I hope he does not mean it literally! As for the 'great city' getting a 'great city'..... did they lunch well?”