Railways: Reliability

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Tuesday 31st October 2017 Lords Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Transport (Baroness Sugg) (Con)]

My Lords, I thank noble Lords for their enthusiastic and expert contributions this evening, and in particular the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, for providing us with the opportunity to discuss this important issue. I also thank noble Lords for their kind words of welcome, and I look forward to working with all noble Lords on all issues around transport. It is a great pleasure that my first speaking duty as Transport Minister is to debate one of the most important challenges for every transport mode: reliability. I hope that noble Lords will bear with me if I am not able to answer all questions on day two of this brief. If I am unable to answer everything tonight, I will write.

Other than safety, there is no more important goal for the rail industry than to deliver reliable services for passengers. This is why the Government are investing at record levels in all our rail services. In October, the Secretary of State announced our intention to commit some £47.9 billion to improve the reliability of the rail network in the next control period. This is on top of the current record levels of investment, which will see £50 billion spent on reliability and transformational infrastructure enhancements. All that is in addition to the £55 billion already planned for HS2. Of course, high-speed rail is not just about faster trains; it will add desperately needed capacity to a network that is already under unprecedented strain.

There is no denying the fact that, as trains vie for space on a network unchanged in size since 1996, reliability has suffered, as several noble Lords have mentioned. Therefore, although we are dealing with a problem that is associated with success, not failure, we recognise that passengers have not always had the high-quality service that they deserve. One of the most effective measures for improving reliability has already been introduced: namely, allowing the industry to forward plan with certainty by replacing annual industry funding cycles with five-year control periods.

We are also fully focused on what can be done in the shorter term and are taking steps to deepen the collaboration between Network Rail and train operators on a franchise-by-franchise basis. This alliancing will create a culture of shared responsibility with the aim of achieving one goal—a more reliable service for passengers.

I have many more examples of what the Government are doing to improve reliability across the country, but I am keen to answer as many questions from noble Lords as I can, so I will move on to those and perhaps return to the other matters.

The noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, and my noble friend Lord Patten raised the issue of better performance measures. We are working with the industry to improve the focus on right-time arrivals. The noble Baroness rightly explained that at the moment we rely on arrivals within five or 10 minutes of the due time, which is not ideal. For the next five-year control period we will be reporting on-time performance at each and every station—that is, arrival within a minute of due time. There will be a heightened focus on performance, and it is hoped that this will improve reliability as the industry becomes more accountable to passengers.

The noble Baroness also asked about compensation. Again, we are working with the industry to try to improve this, most notably through the Delay Repay 15 scheme. However, we recognise that this is not always good enough and, as I said, we are working to improve it further.

My noble friend Lord Patten asked about the rail ombudsman. This was a manifesto commitment and we are working to deliver it as soon as we can. The ombudsman will help industry and government to identify issues of general consumer concern. I can confirm that we and the industry are very clear that the ombudsman must be independent.

I anticipated that my noble friend Lord Patten might raise the Tisbury issue. I am afraid to say that I understand that Network Rail’s Wessex Route Study concluded that the forecast levels of growth between Salisbury and Exeter did not justify the need for additional sections of double track.

My noble friend Lord Patten and the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, asked about the remedies available if franchises fail to deliver. All our franchises include a provision to take enforcement action in the event that a franchise fails to deliver on the obligations to which it has committed.

The noble Lord, Lord Snape, provided me with an education on bridge-bashing incidents. I believe that Network Rail is currently running a campaign to educate haulier drivers, but I will certainly take that issue back to the department to discuss it further—as I will the issue of suicides on track.

I listened with interest to the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, talk about Colne, with his numerous examples from “Colne Talk”. I was unaware of the issue but I certainly got the message, and we will take up his concerns with Northern Rail, including the need for bus substitution.

The noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, asked about the age of maintenance equipment. I am afraid that I will have to get back to him on that, although I can tell him that the example he gave was older than I am.

I can confirm that the Government are absolutely committed to working with the rail freight industry to support its continued success. I have not yet read the report from the National Infrastructure Commission but I will certainly do so. The noble Lord also made interesting points about Network Rail and I will reflect on them.

The noble Lord, Lord Astor of Hever, spoke about Southern Rail, I am very sorry to hear of his personal experience. We are of course all aware of the frustrations that passengers feel. I reassure all noble Lords that we are doing our best to resolve the issue. The performance of Southern is still not good enough. It has improved in recent months but, as the noble Lord mentioned, in the four-week period to 14 October only 80% of trains met the PPM target—which, as we discussed, is getting a train to its final destination within five minutes of its scheduled time.

We are determined to tackle overcrowding. A key aim of our investment strategy is to increase capacity for passengers, including with the new high-capacity 12-car trains on the Brighton route. We are working with train operators to improve the information available to passengers so that they can make an informed decision on how to locate the less busy services.

My noble friend referred to the £20 million announcement which we made in 2016 as an initial package. In January, the DfT also announced a £300 million package for work on Southern’s routes. The funding will improve reliability and allow us to replace old track, old points and signals and deal with some of the structural repairs in tunnels. We are working very closely with GTR to hold it to account.

The noble Lord, Lord Faulkner, spoke in support of HS2. Of course, this will form the new backbone of our national rail network, providing new capacity and better connecting our major cities while creating more space for commuter and freight trains on our busiest lines. This will cut congestion and improve service reliability. I look forward to working with noble Lords when we take the next iteration of the Bill through the House.

The noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, raised the issue of the East Midlands franchise. I would be delighted to meet with the noble Lord to discuss that in detail further. I am afraid that I do not have a more detailed response at the moment.

The noble Lord, Lord Rosser, raised a number of points on electrification and bi-mode trains. Our decision to not progress with some electrification was made in order to deliver benefits to passengers sooner than otherwise would have been possible. While I listened carefully to his detailed questions, I will take him up on his offer to respond in writing and I thank him for that.

I thank all noble Lords for participating in this evening’s debate. Our railways are crucial to their daily users and to the UK’s long-term economic prosperity. However, their success is determined predominantly by the reliability of the services they offer. We have a strategy for turning this round. We have a clear vision for change and industry collaboration; unprecedented investment, past and future, targeted directly at the causes of poor performance; transformative infrastructure schemes across the country that will reduce congestion and improve reliability; brand new trains for passengers across the north, south, east and west of the country; and investment in electrification, bi-mode trains and state-of-the-art digital technology where it will best serve passengers. All of this is aimed at one outcome: improving reliability.

The Government are committed to providing funding for the framework and the incentives that the industry needs to improve performance and give passengers the reliability they expect from a 21st-century railway.

House adjourned at 8.17 pm.