It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Newton Abbot (Anne Marie Morris), whose stirring speech I thoroughly enjoyed. Let me also commend the hon. Member for Torbay (Kevin Foster) for securing the debate, which I think will prove very useful.
The Great Western Railway is important to me, because, along with my Welsh colleagues, I use it regularly. I have used it for the last 15 years, and, if I am fortunate—I am assuming nothing—I may be using it shortly to travel back in that direction for the final time as I head down to the Welsh Assembly. It all depends on the electorate. However, as others have said, the railway is critically important not just to politicians who travel back and forth to work and to represent their constituents, but to the economies of the areas involved. As we heard from the hon. Member for Newton Abbott, the GWR will provide great GVA if we get it right.
I must thank the GWR for getting me here almost on time. I apologise to the hon. Member for Torbay for being a couple of minutes late; that is because part of my journey was on a coach. Fair play: the company ensured that the coaches were running, and managed to deal with the traumatic weather. I thank it for sorting that out for me, and for all the other passengers. However, it raises the issue—regardless of electrification—of run-of-the-mill resilience. Too many parts of our existing railway stock have a fluctuating ability to deliver the timetable that we need. All too often there is a shutdown, and even if it lasts for only two or three hours, trains back up in the wrong places, and the timetable has to catch up with where the rolling stock is. No doubt, following today’s debate, GWR, Arriva Trains Wales and the branch lines will be shuttling stock to try to catch up after the delays.