The following Answer to an Urgent Question was given in the House
of Commons on Monday 24 October. “The case for rail modernisation
is now stronger than when Keith Williams set out the plan for rail
in 2021. Covid-19, recent macroeconomic events, industrial
relations and financial challenges have increased the need for it.
The railways are not meeting customers’ needs, with delays,
unreliability and uncertainty exacerbated by the rail strikes. When
people look at the...Request free trial
The following Answer to an Urgent Question was given in the House
of Commons on Monday 24 October.
“The case for rail modernisation is now stronger than when Keith
Williams set out the plan for rail in 2021. Covid-19, recent
macroeconomic events, industrial relations and financial
challenges have increased the need for it. The railways are not
meeting customers’ needs, with delays, unreliability and
uncertainty exacerbated by the rail strikes. When people look at
the rail sector, we need them to see a system that stands for
reliability and sustainability, so it is clear that we have to
change.
This Government will therefore deliver the most ambitious changes
to our railways in a generation, and will deliver for the people
who matter: our passengers, customers and taxpayers. Although we
will not be introducing rail reform legislation during the
current Session, due to limits on parliamentary time, we are
committed to introducing the legislation necessary to create a
guiding mind, Great British Railways, as soon as possible.
As many Members are aware, a competition was run to identify the
location for the Great British Railways headquarters. I welcome
the support of colleagues for the six shortlisted towns and
cities, and I note that the honourable Member for York Central,
, has been vocal in her
support for York to be the winner. I hope to be able to announce
the successful location shortly—subject to other events outside
the Chamber. Ahead of the legislation, we will continue to work
with the Great British Railways transition team and the wider
sector to push ahead with our ambitious modernisation programme
to deliver real benefits for customers.
Reforming our railways means more reliable trains, faster journey
times—in all, a modern, future-facing rail industry; a sector
with an unswerving focus on meeting the needs of its customers,
creating a simpler, better railway for communities across
Britain. There will be a GBR at the heart of our rail network,
with its headquarters located in one of our great railway
communities. The details will be confirmed shortly, but our
commitment to deliver is unchanged.”
3.20pm
(Lab)
My Lords, we have universal agreement that the railways are in a
chaotic mess. Great British Railways was supposed to be the
answer. Why is it being delayed? Particularly, why has progress
on the rail network enhancement pipeline been stalled, and when
will the location of the Great British Railways headquarters be
announced—or is this to be delayed indefinitely?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Transport () (Con)
My Lords, the challenges facing our nation’s railways were very
clearly set out—some years ago now—in the Plan for Rail. These
challenges have been exacerbated by subsequent events, namely
Covid, macroeconomic headwinds, and some challenges with
industrial relations.
The Government remain committed to modernising our railways and
transforming the industry. At its heart will be a focus on
passengers. The consultation on Great British Railways and other
reforms closed on 4 August. We had 2,500 very good responses. We
will be working through that feedback to help us shape the way
forward with Great British Railways.
The Government have invested and will continue to invest billions
of pounds. On the RNEP specifically, we know that the use of the
railways has changed. There has been a shift away from commuting
and towards leisure. Where we invest taxpayers’ money must
reflect that. We are looking at the RNEP and will have it
published shortly.
Finally, I am hoping that there will be an announcement shortly
on the location of the Great British Railways headquarters.
(LD)
My Lords, the state of our railways is a national embarrassment.
Yet the withdrawal of this Bill is evidence that the Government
are not prioritising them. Meanwhile, the tables of the Royal
Gallery are littered with Bills that reflect the extremes of
Conservative ideology and are of no practical use or value to
ordinary, hard-pressed citizens. Will the Minister take the
opportunity presented by a new Prime Minister this week to press
the case again for the inclusion of this Bill in his new list of
priorities? While she has his ear, will she press him to ensure
that railway fares do not go up in line with inflation next year,
as this would be a bitter blow to commuters?
(Con)
My Lords, I cannot agree that those Bills are no good to anybody.
I think that the Energy Prices Bill will be warmly welcomed by
consumers across the country.
Some legislation is needed for rail reform. However, it should
also be noted that we can deliver an enormous amount of what we
have promised without legislation. These are things such as
workforce reform, increasing competition within the system,
improving the ticketing system, starting local partnerships, and,
most importantly, the long-term strategy for rail. This will set
out the 30-year vision that will be taken forward by Great
British Railways. We are making good progress and will bring the
legislation forward as parliamentary time allows.
(Non-Afl)
My Lords, for years I have used the east coast main line, at
present run by LNER. Will the Minister join me in congratulating
LNER on improving services? It is very efficient now after the
pandemic—which was a difficult period, obviously, but it is back
to optimum efficiency. A lot of it is due to the pleasant nature
of, and service provided by, the staff, and, of course, an
improved menu. LNER is of course run by the Department for
Transport. Does this not provide fairly solid evidence and clear
proof that a railway can operate efficiently while publicly
owned?
(Con)
I agree with the noble Lord that staff are absolutely key. We
have some very hard-working staff across the system. We need to
ensure that those staff are in place to serve passengers where
they are absolutely needed. It is the case there are some very
outdated workforce practices within the railway system, which
need to be upgraded so that we can offer a modern, seven day a
week service. However, I say to the noble Lord that it is about
simplification of the system, not nationalisation.
(CB)
My Lords, I have been travelling up and down the east coast main
line for 71 years, and I would like to place on record how
incredibly helpful, polite and nice all the staff are, whether it
be actually in Scotland or in England. They deserve a serious
clap on the back.
(Con)
I completely agree with the noble Lord.
(Con)
My Lords, further to my noble friend’s reply, while understanding
the reason for postponing the legislation, can she confirm that
it will not stop worthwhile reform, such as simplifying
ticketing, introducing more e-tickets, replacing diesel trains on
branch lines with battery electric trains and other steps such as
providing more real-time information about trains?
(Con)
I can absolutely assure my noble friend that the Government are
hard at work with the train operating companies, Network Rail and
everybody in the railway industry to make sure that as much
progress that can be made is being made. For example, the
accessibility audit of all railway stations is now well under way
and should yield really good results for accessibility in the
future.
(PC)
My Lords, the Minister will be aware from previous questions of
the considerable concern about the service between Euston and
Holyhead. Members of all parties in another place have raised it
on a number of occasions. Given the seriousness of the position,
which is that what used to be eight through trains a day is now
down to one, what is the Minister doing about this? She has
recognised the problem. Has she taken any action?
(Con)
Yes, I do recognise the problem. We absolutely have taken action.
We have daily meetings with the train operating company. It has
put together a recovery plan, which has been reviewed by the ORR
and Network Rail’s programme management office. There will be a
very significant step change in the timetable in December,
because 100 newly trained train drivers are going to be fully
deployed by December. So early December will be the next change
in the timetable, and we expect significant improvements to
services to Wales and elsewhere at that time.
(Lab)
Today there are 44 cancellations on the Transpennine Express.
What do the Government intend to do about that?
(Con)
I am aware that the Transpennine Express is
suffering a significant number of cancellations at the moment.
The Government are working very closely with the train operating
company. There are many factors which are contributing to those
cancellations, but I agree that they are unacceptable. We are
working closely with the train operating company to resolve them
where we can.
Lord McLoughlin (Con)
My Lords, I declare my interest as chairman of Transport for the
North. A number of people find the announcement of the delay in
the Bill very disappointing, as the Williams report was
commissioned in 2018 and reported in 2021. Will my noble friend
confirm that the work that is already being done at the
department will carry on at pace? There is a guiding mind at the
moment for the railways; it is the Treasury. Can we get away from
the fact as soon as possible that the only guiding mind at the
moment is the Treasury, not the Department for Transport?
(Con)
My noble friend will be aware that the guiding mind for the
railways now is the Great British Railways transition team, which
is focusing on all the reforms that we want to put in place. I
accept that there will be some disappointment about the delay to
the Bill. However, as I have previously outlined, it does not
mean that work in the department has slowed down at all. We have
a very energetic rail Minister, and I know that he will be taking
forward these things at pace.
(LD)
My Lords, the Minister referred two or three times to
accessibility during her responses. While the new passenger
assistance app is extremely helpful, it still does not have any
functionality to buy tickets. When booking assistance, I have to
actually book a seat that I cannot use when I buy my ticket
elsewhere. When will this be resolved? All disabled groups ask
for it to happen with the app.
(Con)
I am very grateful to the noble Baroness for raising that with
me. I will take that back to the department. I know that there is
a significant amount of work going on in relation to how online
ticketing works. Clearly, it has to work with the accessibility
app, and I will make sure that we take that up and see what we
can do.
(Lab Co-op)
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Young, made some very good
suggestions today—although he is one of the guilty men
responsible for the privatisation of the railways, which has
caused most of the trouble. The Minister gave replies today that
were very similar to replies that she gave to the noble Lord,
Lord Young, and others weeks ago and months ago, and yet nothing
is happening. When are we going to get away from the position
that she says something here, but nothing actually happens on the
ground? Will she and her colleagues go out and actually travel on
the trains for once?
(Con)
I will do that if the noble Lord stops pointing at me. The
reality is that an enormous amount has actually happened. It
takes time to put these things in place. There are two main
issues when it comes to Avanti, for example. The first is the
massive shortage of fully trained drivers, which was exacerbated
by the need to stop training during the Covid period. As I
mentioned, 100 drivers have now come through the system. However,
the number one thing that would really help to restore services
on Avanti is better co-operation from the trade unions.
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