South Western
Railway
(Putney) (Lab)
1. What recent discussions he has had with representatives
of South Western Railway
on the adequacy of its service levels. (905397)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport ()
Along with Department officials, I am in regular dialogue
with South Western Railway
about its service levels. I have also recently met all managing
directors of the train operating companies, including the
managing director of South Western Railway,
to discuss service provision, among other key industry
topics.
I am glad the Minister is holding meetings with South Western Railway,
as Putney residents have faced dreadful service from SWR for
years, with overcrowding, delays and the cancellation of trains.
Currently, they are on a temporary timetable—a chaos omicron
timetable. The Prime Minister announced in Prime Minister’s
Question Time that that timetable would end on 19 February, but
that seems to be news to SWR. Did he inadvertently mislead the
House?
As I explained to the hon. Lady, my officials and I are in
regular dialogue with SWR, working hard on the issue of services,
because we absolutely understand that it is what matters to
passengers right across the country. Services will be restored as
soon as possible.
(West Dorset) (Con)
I very much welcome the news from the Prime Minister yesterday
that services in Dorset and across the west country will be
returned on 19 February. Will the Minister share with the House
how we got to the place where an entire region of the United
Kingdom—Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire and Devon—had its direct
service to London completely severed and slashed in half, without
MPs even being told about it?
I assure my hon. Friend that the Department continues to work
closely with rail operators, as we work through mitigating the
impact of staff absences on rail services. I assure him that the
current temporary rail timetable is exactly that—temporary—but it
is providing passengers, especially the country’s key workers,
with certainty, so that they can plan as much as possible, with
the confidence that we want. I really hope that as staffing
pressures start to ease, alongside passenger demand increasing,
we will see those rail services, which are key, starting to
increase accordingly.
(Wythenshawe and Sale East)
(Lab)
I am sure that the whole House will join me in wishing my hon.
Friend the Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi) a speedy recovery from
covid.
Rail commuters in towns and suburbs across the land did their
patriotic duty: they stayed home when asked by the Government at
the start of the pandemic. They were told after that that if they
did not go back to work, they were shirkers. Then, before
Christmas, the Government asked them to stay home again. Now, on
their return, they find that fares, including on South Western Railway,
have risen by nearly 4%, on a reduced service. Do this Government
take rail commuters for fools?
We absolutely do take passengers—[Laughter.] We absolutely do
take passengers very, very seriously. I assure the hon. Gentleman
of that, and I am not taking any nonsense such as the language he
is using, not given the amount of support that this Government
have shown to the rail industry throughout the omicron situation
and the covid-19 pandemic more broadly.
(East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)
Clearly taking its lead from South
Western Railway, Southern has suspended all direct trains on
the Brighton line into Victoria, meaning that my constituents
along the south way have to change twice, which they calculate is
adding about a third to their commuting times. That is completely
unacceptable. Given the special funding arrangements between the
Department for Transport and Govia Thameslink Railway, what
compensation can be given to my constituents or, better still,
what pressure can the Minister bring to bear on that company to
provide a decent service again, at last?
I share my hon. Friend’s frustration and, as I said in response
to earlier questions, we have been supporting the industry
heavily throughout covid-19. During the omicron part of the
pandemic, the industry has been handling staff absences, but this
is absolutely about getting those services back up and running as
soon as possible. I assure him that that is what we continue to
focus on.
