Rail Services: Carshalton and Wallington

(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)

Wednesday 26th April 2023 Westminster Hall

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Huw Merriman)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Maria. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Elliot Colburn) for securing this important debate on rail services in his constituency. He is right that, at every opportunity since I was appointed six months ago, he has got hold of me to champion the rights of his constituents. As he says, he is a constituency Member who has a lot of constituents who rely on rail. I am keen to work with him to make their service better.

I will start by setting the context, and talking about covid and changing demand. I am conscious that over the months, my predecessors and I have talked about the challenges, but I want to be more optimistic about the future for rail. I believe it has a great future. Over the past few months, there have been encouraging signs that passengers’ confidence in our railway is beginning to be restored. Nationally, passenger numbers show signs of improvement, and have come close on several occasions to levels seen in equivalent weeks in 2019. There has also been some improvement in the revenue generated across the industry; in some weeks, it averages around 90% of what was generated in that week in 2019.

I believe there is a great future for rail. It is the greener way to travel, and we have a railway heritage. The great people who work on it deserve our support and thanks. I am keen to entice as many people as possible back on to the network, so that we can continue to improve it. However, the pandemic has caused unprecedented change in passenger travel habits. Many people now adopt a hybrid approach, working from home some days of the week, and travelling at different times of the day to avoid the peaks. That means it is quite difficult to make like-for-like comparisons with 2019.

In the light of that, my Department has been working with operators to ensure that they provide rail services that respond to new passenger travel patterns, are fit for the future, and carefully balance cost, capacity and performance. As has often been remarked, the Government have earmarked £16 billion of funding for rail services since the start of the pandemic. That is money from the taxpayer. That is clearly unsustainable in the long term. I am sure you would agree, Dame Maria, that it is unfair to expect taxpayers to subsidise services that continue to exceed demand, and on which there are empty spaces, considering all the costs that over-provision would entail. We must ensure that services are balanced to meet the challenges.

In the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington, off-peak and peak passenger use remains below pre-pandemic levels. The September 2022 timetable change saw the Monday to Friday off-peak and weekend service from Carshalton to London Victoria via Mitcham Junction reduced from four trains per hour to two. Those changes were made in response to our requirement for operators to balance capacity and demand. The weekday peak service remained at four trains per hour. There are no timetable changes in May 2023, but the Epsom to London Bridge route via Carshalton Beeches and Wallington service will now predominantly run as a four or five-carriage formation off-peak on weekdays and weekends, reflecting demand. Weekday peak services will continue to operate with eight or 10 carriages, to meet higher demand.

Let me turn to the performance of the operator. After some significant challenges in December, which were associated with continued driver availability constraints and high levels of annual leave, I am pleased to see that cancellations have reduced significantly this year, especially in recent periods. GTR retains a considerable focus on continuing that improving trend and delivering the reliability that customers expect and deserve. My Department is working closely with GTR, and as my hon. Friend might expect, closely monitors levels of short-notice cancellations and service delays. Any decrease in performance in those areas can negatively impact the management fee that the train operator receives.

My hon. Friend rightly expects closer working between the operator and Network Rail. GTR and Network Rail collaborate on plans for future investment, maintenance and operation of the railway in the area. Indeed, since I have been appointed, I have insisted on having meetings with both Network Rail’s regional director and the head of the train operator, so that I can hear about their integration at first hand. The Department actively encourages closer working to improve the overall experience for passengers.

My hon. Friend rightly asked about infrastructure upgrades, including the Brighton main line upgrade programme. Of course, I understand the desire for an update on the Croydon area remodelling scheme, which seeks to address capacity constraints in the Croydon area. As he will be aware, following the autumn statement and the more recent Budget, we are reviewing the rail network enhancements pipeline, which is our programme for investment in future rail. In the economic context, it is more important than ever that the enhancement schemes that we take forward are affordable, and respond to the changes in demand for travel that I described. We are taking the proper time to ensure that schemes in the portfolio reflect those priorities. We will make the outcome public once the work is complete, thereby confirming the status of schemes across England and Wales, including the Croydon area remodelling scheme, so I ask my hon. Friend to give us a little more time before we update him.

My hon. Friend also asked about digital signalling, which I am very excited about. A programme is being rolled out on the London North Eastern Railway, on the east coast. I have seen the work that has been undertaken, and have worked alongside those who are delivering it. The efficiencies that it will bring are incredibly exciting. Network Rail is considering conversion to digital signalling on the Brighton main line as part of its renewals process for control period 7; I will bring him further news on that front as and when we have it.

My hon. Friend rightly talks about how we can help those with mobility issues to access the railway. We want a railway network that provides disabled people with improved opportunities for work and leisure travel. Indeed, we want to help all those who struggle to get on the railway, including parents with children in buggies, so that the railway, rather than the car, is a choice for them. The Department is very proud to support the Access for All programme, which has provided step-free accessible routes at over 220 stations, and smaller-scale access improvements at 1,500 more stations. All available Access for All funding has been allocated to projects until March 2024, but we are assessing over 300 nominations with Network Rail for stations for future awards. I am pleased to say that those include a nomination for Carshalton Beeches station, in anticipation of further funding becoming available beyond 2024. I expect to make an announcement regarding successful schemes later this year. I hope that my hon. Friend will bear with us as we assess his scheme, and I wish him well in that regard.

With respect to the larger-than-usual gap between the platform and the front of the train at Hackbridge station, which my hon. Friend mentioned, I can report that Network Rail is actively considering a full renewal of the platform, which would come in a few years hence. That would reduce the gap. I hope to bring him more news, and I thank him for bringing that to our attention. I can assure him that we are looking at the issue with Network Rail.

Finally—this is not in the rail portfolio, but it is right for me to respond for the Department for Transport—my hon. Friend made his views on the ULEZ expansion clearly known. I thank him for bringing the matter to Parliament and to the attention of the Government. All I would say is that if I were Mayor of London, which would be unlikely given that I am an East Sussex MP, I would not expand the ultra low emission zone, particularly given the financial impact on drivers and visitors to London, as my hon. Friend said. I will continue to use my role to work with him, and across Government, to ensure that the Mayor of London is held accountable for any decision that he makes. I am aware, as I know many Londoners and many people just outside London are—I am one of them, as I have mentioned—that cash barriers around London will have an impact on London as a whole and businesses in London. My hon. Friend makes the point well.

I hope that my hon. Friend has been reassured by the information that I have been able to give him, and that he can see the Government’s ambition to improve journeys for passengers and create a better, more modern railway industry that delivers good value for money. He is a real champion for his constituents, so I am sure that he will continue to engage with me, stop me to talk to me at every opportunity, and hold further debates. I thank him for this debate.

Question put and agreed to.