Simon Lightwood

My hon. Friend is quite right, and I hear what he says, but it is important that we point out the wider investment in the rail system there, including the £1.1 million to refurnish the iconic Stockport viaduct, which was built back in 1840. Let me move on to the issue of step-free access at Brinnington, Heaton Chapel and Reddish South stations, which I know my hon. Friend is interested in. Since its launch in 2006, the Access for All programme has delivered step-free access at more than 260 stations across Great Britain. Only about half of the stations in Great Britain have step-free access to and between all platforms. However, around 75% of journeys on the GB rail network are through step-free stations, compared with 50% in 2005. I recommend that my hon. Friend and his constituency neighbour, the hon. Member for Hazel Grove, engage with the local authority and Northern Trains to propose that Brinnington, Heaton Chapel and Reddish South are a priority in any future funding rounds, as none of those stations were nominated for the last round. In the meantime, the Department will continue to seek further opportunities to improve rail accessibility, and if the industry installs, replaces or renews infrastructure at the stations, that will need to comply with current accessibility standards. On the services provided at Reddish South station, the Department expects operators to match the capacity and frequency of their services to demand, although they must also be operationally sustainable and deliver value for taxpayers. The Rail North partnership, through which the Department and Transport for the North jointly manage the contract with Northern Trains, which serves Reddish South, will assess any business case that is put forward. The analysis must balance the economic and social benefits of any enhancement with the performance of existing services and the financial impact of a taxpayer subsidy. I turn to the direct service from Stockport to Manchester airport—an issue I know my hon. Friend the Member for Stockport is keen on. The Sheffield-Manchester airport service, which offered direct services between Stockport and the airport, was withdrawn in December 2022 as part of the timetable developed by the Manchester taskforce, which includes the DFT, the train operators, Network Rail, Transport for Greater Manchester and Transport for the North. We see improved connectivity as an important factor in growing the northern and national economies and would hope that new infrastructure would allow direct services from Stockport to the airport, although I must stress that other towns and cities could make a case for their pre-2022 direct connections to be restored as well. I thank my hon. Friend again for the debate, at which we have discussed a number of important issues affecting rail services in his constituency. He rightly pointed out that I have visited his constituency not once but twice. I hope he does not take it personally that on each occasion it was a sitting day. I will do my utmost to return to Stockport—as long as he can guarantee that the sun is shining. Question put and agreed to.