Helen Morgan
Main Page: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
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Helen Morgan
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for allowing my intervention and for making such a great speech. Many stations, such as Whitchurch station in north Shropshire, are well advanced through the Access for All scheme, but funding has been pulled at the last minute. Does he agree that there is a really good pipeline of work ready to go and ready to be built, and it would be great if the Government could reopen the scheme and get on with those that are ready to go?
Mr Kohler
My hon. Friend is absolutely correct— I had got to exactly that point in my speech. Despite the successes, the Access for All scheme has failed to deliver on its potential, but hon. Members need not take my word for it. In May 2024, the current Rail Minister, Lord Hendy, then chair of Network Rail, said Access for All had “significantly underperformed” over the previous five years, having stalled under the previous Government. Of the 149 schemes due to be completed in that period, only 77 were—and, in what seems to be a first for a Government infrastructure project, there was an underspend of £99 million.
Kate Dearden
I thank the hon. Member for her contribution, which has been noted and heard. I am just coming to an update on the Access for All programme. As I mentioned, 22 stations have been completed under the programme, with a further five due to be completed by April 2025. That will be the highest number of stations completed in any single year since the programme began, but we know our work is far from done.
Much of our rail network was designed in the Victorian era. It was an impressive engineering achievement for its time, but it falls short of meeting the accessibility standards that 21st century passengers rightly expect. Today, only a fifth of stations across Great Britain offer step-free access to and between all platforms. However, it is important to recognise the progress made, with 75% of journeys now passing through step-free stations, which is a significant improvement on 50% in 2005.
I share hon. Members’ frustrations that changes have not happened at the pace people would like to see. The Network Rail performance at the end of control period 6 was not good enough, with a number of projects late and over budget. We have taken steps to rectify that, including restoring a strong national oversight team at National Rail, so that best practice between routes and regions can be shared.
Under the previous Government, 310 nominations were received from Network Rail, train operating companies and other strategic transport organisations for the next round of Access for All. Last year, a list of 50 stations selected for initial feasibility work was announced. I am pleased to report that significant progress has been made with those studies. To date, 29 feasibility studies have been completed, with remaining studies on track for completion by the summer.
Helen Morgan
Will the Minister commit to those stations that have had their design and feasibility studies done? Some had commitments from the Minister in the previous Government, before the election was called. Can she commit to getting on with those stations? It is extremely frustrating for residents in places such as Whitchurch, who thought they were getting Access for All but have had the rug pulled from under their feet.
Kate Dearden
We will continue to take the Access for All programme forward as fast as funds allow. We will write to her with any updates we can provide. We are strongly committed to making the oldest railway in the world accessible to everybody and we will announce the stations progressing to design in the summer. We remain committed to building on progress and Ministers are carefully considering the best approach for the Access for All programme in control period 7. The Department for Transport will provide updates to all stakeholders in due course.