Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to
ensure that full railway timetables are restored as soon as
possible, following the disruption caused by staff absences.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Transport () (Con)
My Lords, the department has been working closely with rail
operators to mitigate the impact of Covid-related staff absences
on train services. Many operators have implemented temporary
revised train timetables, which are providing passengers and
especially the country’s key workers with certainty so that they
can plan their journeys with confidence. The department will
continue to work with operators to ensure that services meet
demand as staff absence pressures ease.
(LD)
My Lords, I regret that there was no absolute reassurance in that
Answer that timetables would be restored. At the same time as
reductions, the Government are requiring train operating
companies to make 10% savings and imposing a 3.8% increase on
fares for passengers. The Government found the money for freezing
fuel duty and reducing domestic APD, but rail passengers face the
double whammy of reduced services and higher prices. Does the
Minister recognise that the Government should do everything they
can to encourage us out of our cars and back on to public
transport, but instead government policy is setting the railways
up to fail?
(Con)
I do not agree with the noble Baroness’s assessment that
government policy is setting the railways up to fail. We are
introducing all sorts of measures under the Williams-Shapps Plan
for Rail which will improve rail services and make them fit for
the future. It is the case that demand is currently running at
around 55%; because of Covid absences, we have a temporary
timetable in place—I reassure the noble Baroness that it is a
temporary timetable, which she will know expires on 26 February.
We are working closely with the rail industry in relation to the
progress of omicron and how timetables may look in the
future.
(Con)
My Lords, is not the more potent factor in this situation the
lack of passengers, which is making train operators wary of
introducing services across the country that are visibly
empty?
(Con)
Not entirely, my Lords. Clearly, the rail operators working with
the Department for Transport want to provide the services. At the
moment, they cannot do so because of Covid pressures on staff,
but we will work in the longer term with the rail industry to
streamline the passenger offer, to remove duplication of services
and to ensure efficiency.
(Lab)
My Lords, we are obviously in the middle of a public health
crisis and the Government have difficult decisions to take, but
will the Minister repudiate the prophets of doom who somehow
think that we are all going to stop travelling in the usual way
once Covid has ended? Will she acknowledge that in the periods
when we have opened up between the waves of the pandemic,
passengers have returned to the railways very quickly—passenger
usage on the Tube in London was up to two-thirds before we had
the latest lockdown—and that it would be a huge mistake if the
Government were to start cutting services, which would discourage
people from returning to the railways after 20 years of massive
investment in them, which has been a great good news story for
this country?
(Con)
The Government are very keen for passengers to return to the
railways. We are working closely with the industry as it supports
demand and revenue recovery. However, we accept that there may be
enduring changes in the way in which people travel, whether it be
for work versus leisure. That is why the Rail Delivery Group is
working closely with VisitBritain to establish a new domestic
rail tourism product, so that we might perhaps go interrailing
around our own nation.
(Lab)
My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, mentioned the 10%
cut that the Treasury has asked all the rail industry to impose.
Can the Minister confirm that the Night Riviera sleeper, which
keeps Cornwall connected to London and the rest of the country,
is safe from this, or will that be cut as part of the 10%?
(Con)
My Lords, I cannot comment on the Night Riviera sleeper; I wish I
could, but I will write if I can find out any information on it.
However, we do need to look at our railways to ensure that they
are financially sustainable for the future. The Government have
committed £14 billion since the start of the pandemic to support
our rail sector. We know that in future, we will be looking for
workforce reforms and cost efficiencies. We want passengers to
come back and, of course, overall, we want an excellent
performance for all passengers and freight.
(Non-Afl)
My Lords, the less than full railway timetables are not solely
caused by Covid-related staff shortages. The hourly Chester to
London and London to Chester direct trains have just disappeared.
Whenever I make any queries about the return to the pre-lockdown
timetable, I am met with an “It’s Covid, innit?” shrug. Can the
Minister look at this cavalier establishment of the new normal as
a cover for what are, effectively, cuts in services? Worryingly,
it is not just confined to the rail network, but it is always at
the expense of the public and it is happening without anyone
discussing it.
(Con)
I am not sure I agree with the noble Baroness. Clearly, we are
discussing it today and we have discussed timetables in the past.
Timetables are never static: they have changed twice a year for a
very long time. It is true that we will be asking the rail
industry to submit plans through the routine business-planning
process, and it may well be that there are further changes to
timetables. We do, however, ask all the rail operators to engage
very closely with local communities to ensure that we are able to
deliver the right services to the right places.
(Lab)
My Lords, the Government recently announced that 100,000 tests
would be made available for key workers, but the Minister will be
aware that the number of key workers available is many millions.
Can she confirm how much of the 100,000-testing commitment will
be designated for public transport, and what proportion of the
workforce she expects that to cover?
(Con)
I do not have the figures with me today, but I can say that those
100,000 tests were actually for critical workers rather than key
workers. These people are even more critical than key workers.
The sort of places we will be using those tests for are places
such as operation centres: you literally cannot replace one
person for another when it comes to rail service operators. We
are looking at those people without whom we cannot do. That is
really important, because they are critical—more critical than
some other workers.
A noble Lord
They cannot get to work.
(Con)
My Lords, can the Minister say—she did not really answer the
noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, fully on this—when we can expect
to have a reasonably certain timetable? Those who travel by train
regularly need to be able to plan carefully, and many of us feel
that, although Covid has been a reason for much, it has been an
excuse for many things as well.
(Con)
I completely accept my noble friend’s point. It is the case that
we want all passengers to be able to travel with confidence. At
the moment, we are advising passengers to check first, but that
is why the process that we put in place because of the Omicron
intervention was two-phased. There was a reactive phase over
Christmas, which necessitated some short-term cancellations. We
knew that employee absences would possibly rise, so that is why
we were proactive and put in place this planned timetable just
for six to eight weeks until 26 February. That will provide some
certainty until then. Then, of course, I would have to ask my
noble friend to look at the timetable again.
(LD)
Earlier, the Minister said that the Government were very keen for
passengers to return to the use of rail. What would she say to
rail travellers in Yorkshire, who are facing the insult of
increases in rail fares totalling nearly 50% over the last 10
years or so, yet are also facing services in relative decline?
There will be no HS2, no HS3 and no full electrification.
Yorkshire folk like value for money and they are not getting it.
What does the Minister have to say to them?
(Con)
I just point the noble Baroness to the Williams-Shapps plan
for rail. There is an enormous amount in there that will be
beneficial to passengers in Yorkshire and beyond. We will be
looking at ticketing, which is insanely complicated. Sometimes
multi-leg ticketing is cheaper than a single leg and it is all
slightly mad. Obviously, we will be very passenger-focused to
make sure that the right services exist for people in Yorkshire
and beyond.
(Con)
My Lords, can the Minister confirm that those drivers of trains
on shunter routes are paid less than those on, for example, the
east coast main line route and the west coast main line route? Is
there any evidence of an exodus of these drivers to earn higher
salaries as lorry drivers?
(Con)
I am not sure that the skills are interchangeable, but it could
be that some people have chosen to become HGV drivers instead.
However, I reiterate that the rail services that we currently
have are not financially sustainable without workforce reforms.
That is going to be an absolutely essential part of the way we
take forward rail services in this country. We need to make sure
that we have the right people on the right trains on the right
pay and with the right conditions.
