-
(Con)
My Lords, I am extremely grateful to my noble friend for that
helpful Answer, which will be received with great relief and
delight in Lincoln. I ask her to keep her vigilant eye on
developments and invite her and, indeed, all Members of your
Lordships’ House, to take advantage of a day in Lincoln to
see its glorious cathedral and castle when that becomes
possible next year.
-
My Lords, I certainly reassure my noble friend that we will
keep a close eye on developments with LNER. My honourable
friend the rail Minister and the Secretary of State will work
closely with the operator to ensure that the interests of
passengers are protected. I have not been to Lincoln for some
time, so look forward to doing so when the train services
start.
-
(Lab)
My Lords, while we all rejoice for the noble Lord and the
people of Lincoln, is it not perverse that £7 billion spent
to improve services in the south-east has not only resulted
in temporary chaos but significantly worsened the timings of
trains coming on the east Midlands line from Sheffield
through Derby and Leicester, so that they have now lost eight
minutes on the journey time to benefit those in the
south-east? No wonder people voted for Brexit in the north.
-
My Lords, the Government are investing significantly in
northern transport. With the setting up of Transport for the
North, there is now a strong voice to help us allocate
funding up there. On the timetable, to which I believe the
noble Lord refers, we have seen some big changes in the past
week: the biggest change to rail timetables in a generation.
That timetable change will deliver improved passenger
services across the country—in both the south and the north.
-
(LD)
My Lords, the failure of the east coast franchise seems to
have surprised no one except a few people in the Department
for Transport. Given that 92% of the public were satisfied
with the train operating company concerned, it was clearly
not a failure to achieve standards set within the franchise.
Therefore, we must conclude that the failure lay with the
Department for Transport in accepting an unrealistic bid that
was just too good to be true. What steps are being taken to
train staff within the Department for Transport involved in
franchising to design and deal with franchises in a much more
realistic, thorough and effective manner?
-
My Lords, the noble Baroness is quite right that we have seen
very high levels of passenger satisfaction—92%—under the
previous franchise, and we are of course working to continue
that. I take her point that the franchising system is not
perfect, and we are working to improve it. We are continually
refining the franchise model and monitor the performance of
all franchises closely. We have evolved and improved bid
assessment since 2014 and have a new process to ensure that
bids are more financially robust, including a scenario where
we look at lower growth than expected.
-
(Con)
My Lords, may I suggest to the Minister that she might
reconsider the question of HS2? If HS2 is abandoned, as it
ought to be if there is any common sense in the world, there
would be plenty of money out of those billions and billions
of pounds for all the other projects required on the
railways.
-
I am afraid that yet again I will have to disagree with my
noble friend on HS2. Our railways are at capacity; we have
seen the doubling of passenger numbers since privatisation,
and HS2 is much needed to relieve that capacity and provide a
better service for people across the country.
-
(Lab)
My Lords, will the Minister confirm that the trains which she
pleasingly told the noble Lord, , would be going to
Lincoln will have enough seats for everybody in this House,
and that they are not just two-car trains? More seriously,
can she confirm that there is enough capacity on the branch
line, and on the main line provided by Network Rail, so that
these trains can be operated without any disadvantage to
other services?
-
My Lords, I am afraid that I do not know the exact size of
the trains on the new local railway. On capacity, moving
towards the east coast partnership, as we are planning to do
in 2020, will enable both Network Rail and the train operator
to work closely together to ensure that we have enough
capacity on all lines.
-
(LD)
My Lords, who will employ the staff under this arrangement,
and what assurances have been given to them about their
future?
-
My Lords, that is a key question. As the noble Baroness
pointed out, they have delivered an incredibly high passenger
service and we should absolutely pay tribute to them for
doing so. They have seen a number of changes in the train
operating companies over the years. We can reassure staff
that changes will not impact on their continued employment;
it will be no different from a normal franchise change. Staff
will be transferred and their existing terms and conditions
of employment will be protected.
-
(Con)
Will my noble friend confirm that the new trains planned for
the east coast route will come into service next year?
-
I can confirm to my noble friend those services planned for
next year will come in. The good news also is that we fully
expect the new intercity express trains to be introduced on
the east coast main line from the end of this year, as
planned. That will bring an increase in seat capacity and
enable reductions in journey times.
-
Lord (LD)
My Lords, the noble Baroness will recall responding to
questions in February on this issue about expansion of
services. Lincoln may well be a splendid place, but can we
look further north? The Minister indicated in February that
new services would start in May 2019 and go as far as
Bradford and Harrogate and, perhaps a little later,
Middlesbrough and Huddersfield. Is that still the case? Would
she like to reconfirm what she said then?
-
My Lords, I am happy to reconfirm what I said then. The
introduction of LNER will not affect the planned services or
delivery. We will continue to see new services in 2019 and
2020.
