Rail Franchises

Debate between Lord Christopher and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Monday 11th July 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

There are various procedures open to the Government if the contract fails in its objectives. As I have already indicated, I take on board what my noble friend has said on the issue in respect of which the franchisee is claiming force majeure, which is part of the franchise. I assure him that the Government are looking at this very closely. There are various enforcement policy options available to the Secretary of State and we continue to monitor the position very carefully to ensure that we see an improvement in service. Prior to the early part of this year, we saw service levels rise to 83%. The noble Lord picked out the issue of industrial action and I talked about high levels of sickness leave. These have seen performance go from 83% to about 63% since May.

[Lord Christopher (Lab)]

My Lords, as a passenger on this railway line, I believe that the Government are dissembling. The contract which has been drawn up is quite unique and provides an incentive to the railway company not to run trains if it can avoid it. Under the contract, you collect the money from the tickets and pay a substantial fee to Southern to provide the trains. I suspect that you are seeking to buy time in order that Transport for London can take this over in a year or two’s time.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, I do not agree with the noble Lord. He may well be aware that DfT has effective enforcement procedures; indeed, an enforcement advisory panel was set up specifically to review possible contraventions of franchise agreements. Perhaps we have hope, in the sense that the official who leads that panel is a gentleman called Andy Murray.

Railways: South East Flexible Ticketing Scheme

Debate between Lord Christopher and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Tuesday 2nd February 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

I do not think I agree with anything the leader of the Opposition in the other place says.

[Lord Christopher (Lab)]

My Lords, will the noble Lord confirm or deny the very strong rumours reaching me—I declare an interest in that I travel on Southern trains—that there are plans to transfer Southern to Transport for London? Can he also confirm that, if that is true, it would be quite legal for Transport for London to exceed the boundaries of London?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

I will write specifically on that issue to the noble Lord. I believe that the noble Lord was referring to the awards of franchises; it is true that we are working very closely to ensure that there is an open competition. However, I will write to him on his specific question.