Franchising Of Regional Railways North East;amdt. Line 1:

EDM number 379A1 in 1996-97, proposed by John Greenway on 14/01/1997.

leave out from `House' to end and add `welcomes the reassurance given by the Director General of the Office of Rail Passenger Franchising, Mr John O'Brien, that all the bids submitted for the Regional Railway North East franchises have been assessed on an equal footing and that no bidder has been given or will receive any advantage from information which might not have been available to other bidders; notes that in the recent BBC2 Close Up North television programme the Franchise Director's impartiality and even-handedness was applauded by representatives of companies involved in submitting bids for rail franchises; recognises that it is not for this House to express a preference for any short-listed bids; notes that there is a widely-held view amongst business and community leaders in York that a successful award of the RRNE franchise to the York-based management team would be likely to retain more rail jobs in York than otherwise; expresses surprise that the honourable Member for York should seek to undermine the management team's bid; and calls upon the Franchise Director to conclude the RRNE franchise award within the agreed timetable so as to bring the benefits of rail privatisation to local rail passengers in Yorkshire-The North East.'.

This is a ammendment to 379.

This motion has been signed by a total of 1 MPs.