Govia Thameslink/Rail Electrification

Daniel Zeichner Excerpts
Tuesday 3rd July 2018

(6 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Johnson of Marylebone Portrait Joseph Johnson
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That is the exactly why the Secretary of State has put in place the hard review. If GTR is found to have been negligent, he will have the full gamut of options available to him, including the removal of the franchise.

Daniel Zeichner Portrait Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab)
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I can catalogue similar misery endured by passengers from Cambridge, but the key question is: how did this happen? The conclusion I came to, listening to evidence to the Transport Committee, was that at the key time no one was in place to make the call. So let me ask: who is in charge of our railways?

Lord Johnson of Marylebone Portrait Joseph Johnson
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We have a lot to learn as an industry from what went wrong, which is why the Secretary of State has set up the Glaister review, an independent review chaired by the Office of Rail and Road. It is important that we learn all the lessons from what happened in the run-up to May to ensure that mistakes are not made again in December and May 2019.