If one regards it from a short-term view, then it is a Crisis of Transport.

We do not want to have a Transport Crisis next year, as we had a coal crisis this year.

In any case, it would be cheaper for the Government, and for the Commission, to put up with that a little longer, than to land the country in a Great Transport Crisis.

The right hon. Member for the City of London suggested that it would be cheaper to delay the transfer, and that we would encounter a Transport Crisis next year if we attempted to transfer the railways to the Commission on 1st January, 1948.

The right hon. Member for the City of London said that if this Amendment was not accepted there would be the prospect of a Transport Crisis next year.

During the Transport Crisis I should say that one of the elements which was most helpful in keeping the country balanced, was the fact that vast numbers of men received back quite useful and substantial sums under P.A.Y.E.

We all know that the massive irritations of the ordinary worker waiting for the bus in the rain to get to and from his work, coupled with the real threat of break down at Christmas time, Bank holidays, and so on, constitute nothing short of a Transport Crisis.

Every developed country has a Transport Crisis at the moment.

Secondly, the Transport Crisis, which will get worse because of guerrilla activity, will disrupt supplies.

They have suffered increasingly from a Transport Crisis, especially a crisis in public transport.

I am certain the House will agree that we are facing a Transport Crisis.

Is the Prime Minister aware of the Crisis in Transport in Wales, particularly in rural areas?

The context of the debate is the Transport Crisis in rural areas.

The Crisis in Transport in rural areas has overtaken the Bill.

Assuming that the Minister accepts that in many rural areas there is already something of a Transport Crisis, does he agree that there is a real case for a further relaxation that would give private operators a better chance to introduce new services?

A Transport Crisis can be precipitated by the Law Lords' decision and it is, therefore, clear that decisions are urgently needed about what subsidy should be permitted.

As many hon. Members have stated, this is the most Serious Transport Crisis in London since the General Strike.

Does not the Minister agree that the Transport Crisis was both predictable and predicted some nine months ago?

The market failures in the Transport Crisis that is evidently affecting the south will not be solved by further applications of the same free-for-all philosophy that clogged things up in the first place.

Is there not a danger that the Government, in responding to public concern about the growing Transport Crisis, have come up with panic measures - [Laughter.

Given the impending chaos that will arise on Wednesday on the public transport system, especially in London, and that the Transport Crisis with which we are confronted is a major environmental problem, our debate today should be welcome.

The Government must face up to the Transport Crisis that confronts us.

I have no doubt that the Secretary of State will recognise that we have a Transport Crisis in London.

May I congratulate the Secretary of State and the Government on at least recognising, at long last, that there is a Transport Crisis in London?

believes that Britain's Transport Crisis is now so severe that it is doing severe economic and environmental damage to the whole nation; deplores the low pay and long hours which typify the average working period of railway workers; recognises the need to set tougher quality of service standards to ensure that real passengers enjoy a safer, more reliable and efficient service at a fairer price and have greater powers to demand redress when those standards are not met; believes that compared to the railway systems of other developed nations, British Rail deserves greater financial support from public funds; and resolves that these problems can only be solved by adopting a co-ordinated approach to transport policy, increasing the level of public service obligation and other grants paid to British Rail and London Regional Transport, and adopting a new approach to investment to ensure that all plans are judged on a common basis, taking full account of environmental, economic and social benefits for both users and non-users.

The Government fail to understand that transport has become a major political issue, not only because the Opposition have chosen to make it so but because people feel helpless and frustrated at the scale of Our Transport Crisis.

I beg to move,That this House condemns the Government's approach to British Rail and London Underground that has produced the poorest quality rail and tube services and the highest fares in Western Europe, and has left Britain's transport system unable to cope with the challenges posed by the Channel Tunnel and the Single European Market; believes that Britain's Transport Crisis is now so severe that it is doing severe economic and environmental damage to the whole nation; deplores the low pay and long hours which typify the average working period of railway workers; recognises the need to set tougher quality of service standards to ensure that real passengers enjoy a safer, more reliable and efficient service at a fairer price and have greater powers to demand redress when those standards are not met; believes that compared to the railway systems of other developed nations, British Rail deserves greater financial support from public funds; and resolves that these problems can only be solved by adopting a co-ordinated approach to transport policy, increasing the level of public service obligation and other grants paid to British Rail and London Regional Transport, and adopting a new approach to investment to ensure that all plans are judged on a common basis, taking full account of environmental, economic and social benefits for both users and non-users.

The Secretary of State has dropped the unpopular plans that could make London's Transport Crisis even worse, but he has failed to adopt the plans that could improve the situation.

We are experiencing a Transport Crisis.

The real illustration of the Present Transport Crisis and the Government's disastrous record over the past 11 years is the experience of my constituents and those of many other hon. Members.

The real illustration of the present Transport Crisis and the Government's disastrous record over the past 11 years is the experience of my constituents and those of many other hon. Members.

The Bill must be set in the context of the extent and scale of the Transport Crisis afflicting London and the Government's response to it.

In examining the Transport Crisis, I want to look for areas of agreement rather than disagreement, and thus further confound the Secretary of State, who discovered, when we appeared together on a television programme recently, that there was some agreement between us in respect of safety, but who predicted that it would not last more than 12 hours.

Opposition Members believe that the proposals are motivated more by ideology than by any attempt to solve Britain's Transport Crisis.

If the Minister makes that calculation, he will know that there is no solution to the Transport Crisis faced in Britain other than Government investment in roads and public transport.

It was made clear at Question Time yesterday that there is a Transport Crisis in London.

Finally, does the right hon. Gentleman not accept that, although planting trees next to roads is important, like his statement it does not constitute a transport policy or deal with the real and growing Transport Crisis facing many of our cities?

Does he understand, however, that as up to 26,000 vehicles a day go over the single lifting bridge, the only means of access to the Isle of Sheppey, and as there was an electrical failure a couple of weeks ago, this is a Transport Crisis waiting to happen?

Our charge against the Government today is twofold: first, that there is no evidence that the Government seriously grasp the magnitude of the Transport Crisis facing Britain today and, secondly, that, even if they do, they are either unwilling or unable effectively to deal with it.

Not only are there serious questions to be asked about London's economy, but the city is facing an Acute Transport Crisis, as a result of years of under-investment - points well made by my hon. Friends the Members for Islington, North and for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) - coupled with an abject failure to recognise the damage being caused by ever-worsening traffic congestion.

It is clear that the Conservatives never really intended to solve the problem of congestion or comprehensively deal with the Transport Crisis that was precipitated by their policies.

The Deputy Prime Minister's Department has no money, no legislation, no principles and no solutions to the Transport Crisis.

That is also why the Select Committee makes no fewer than 76 recommendations about how to tackle the Transport Crisis that the country faces.

There is no vision in the Queen's Speech to renew great cities, to improve our schools, to sort out our hospitals or to solve the Transport Crisis that the Government are creating.

It also said: "There's no doubt that this represents the most serious attempt to tackle Our Transport Crisis in years".

The Automobile Association said that it wasa welcome change from decades of penny-pinching and under-investment … There's no doubt that this represents the most serious attempt to tackle Our Transport Crisis in years.

It is their policies that are most likely to resolve the growing Transport Crisis.

At a time of Transport Crisis, has he not shown that the Government are losing their touch?

The Government have been in power for four years, and there is a Crisis in Transport, a crisis in health and a crisis in the police; and the Department for Education and Employment is realising that there will be a crisis in teacher recruitment very shortly.

It is thus unsurprising, especially in view of the Transport Crisis, that the prospect of daily commuting is daunting, notwithstanding the positive initiatives that the 94WH Government have taken to help towards transport costs.

It is thus unsurprising, especially in view of the Transport Crisis, that the prospect of daily commuting is daunting, notwithstanding the positive initiatives that the Government have taken to help towards transport costs.

What about the Crisis in Transport?

Until 7 o'clock there will be a debate on student finance, followed by a debate entitled "The Transport Crisis".

Despite those improvements, however, there is a real Crisis in Transport.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) said, this Government's approach to the Transport Crisis is characterised by indecision, lack of leadership and the 813 Treasury's initiative-sapping stranglehold over alternative means of funding transport improvements.

I beg to move, That this House believes that for the duration of the Crisis in Transport the country requires a full-time Secretary of State for Transport.

We need a Secretary of State who concentrates on that Transport Crisis and on putting matters right.

Much could be done to tackle the Present Transport Crisis, but it requires a full-time Secretary of State.

Does my right hon. Friend find it surprising that, during this period of tremendous Crisis in Transport, a new bypass has been built in my constituency that was first mooted 27 years ago, as well as two brand new roundabouts that were mooted 30 years ago and have been built for safety reasons?

The hon. Gentleman is speaking in favour of the Liberal Democrat motion, which refers to "the Crisis in Transport", so will he provide the House with five examples of transport crisis in this country and five solutions advanced by his party to deal with them?

Does the hon. Gentleman believe that, if I were in full flow, I could confine myself to only five examples of Transport Crisis?

The motion rightly refers to the Transport Crisis that the country faces.

Following my intervention, the hon. Member for Bath accepted that the so-called Crisis in Transport that he currently perceives pre-dated not only the Labour Government and the 18 years of Conservative Government but went right back to the beginning of the 20th century.

The perfect preparation for tonight's debate on the Crisis in Transport was spending just over an hour on a train outside Stowmarket going absolutely nowhere this morning.

As my hon. Friendthe Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) said, this Government's approach to the Transport Crisis is characterised by indecision, lack of leadership and the Treasury's initiative-sapping stranglehold over alternative means of funding transport improvements.

They are the people that a person should get in touch with in a Transport Crisis over getting to a new college course on Monday, when the council has rung on Friday to say that it will not pay for transport.

Given the strength of cross-party support for it, about which the Minister has heard this morning; given the huge damage that delays inflict on the environment, the lives of my constituents and the prospects for Portsmouth's regeneration; and given the opportunity cost to the country's economic infrastructure caused by not proceeding with the project, will the Minister at least agree to facilitate a meeting with the Secretary of State, as requested by the hon. Lady, to resolve This Transport Crisis with the greatest possible urgency?

Why has it taken almost 10 years for the Government to realise that we have a Transport Crisis in this country?

The Journal in Newcastle also reported: "The extra burden on council finance looks set to cause a repeat of last year's Transport Crisis which saw a £7.