Guards on Merseyrail Trains

Ian Mearns Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Dan Carden]

I find that incredible. It is not good enough for the people of Merseyside to go without guards when companies that profit from the revenue from those people’s tickets provide guards in other countries.

Instead of pushing DOO, the Government could make passenger safety and the provision of safety-critical guards non-negotiable, before profits, at the top of contracts for all rail franchises. Better still would be to scrap the legislation under which only the private sector can run passenger train services. If the Minister wants to argue that this is a devolved issue and he cannot interfere, he must explain why Merseytravel is prohibited from running its trains in the public sector.

[Ian Mearns (Gateshead) (Lab)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Dan Carden]

I will not, because I am pushed for time.

For the reasons that I have outlined, I believe that the basis of any resolution must be agreement on the principle of keeping the guard on the train. Last week Merseyrail appointed a new managing director, and that might provide an opportunity for fresh thinking. Similar issues have been resolved elsewhere. The RMT has agreed new deals with a number of companies, including TransPennine Express, Great Western and East Coast, and also ScotRail, which, like Merseyrail, is owned by Abellio. If Abellio in Scotland can agree to keep the guard on the train, why cannot Abellio do so on Merseyside?

I commend the RMT’s work in defence of its members and passenger safety. I want this dispute to be resolved as quickly as possible, and the basis of that must be agreement in principle to keep the guard on the train. I hope that Labour’s representatives in the Liverpool city region will appreciate the points that have been made this evening but, in the face of the Government’s cuts to funding for our transport authority, private profiteering that is out of control and the failed Tory ideology that runs right through our rail network, it is inevitable that we shall end up being given false choices between embracing new technology, and protecting secure jobs and public safety.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Paul Maynard)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Madam Deputy Speaker.

I congratulate the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton (Dan Carden) on securing the debate, and also on delivering his thoughts in such a cogent and well-balanced way. I am pleased to see that so many Members from both sides of the Mersey and, indeed, slightly beyond it are present this evening: I think that that demonstrates the importance that so many in the Mersey area attach to the issue. I suspect that I am not the hon. Gentleman’s whole intended audience, and I am sure that many more will pay attention to it in the area of the city region.

As I am sure all Members know, Adjournment debates give Members worthwhile opportunities to raise important constituency matters, and the hon. Gentleman has certainly done that this evening, but he will probably not be surprised to hear me say that their value can be weakened when the issue under discussion falls not just without the jurisdiction of the responding Minister, but without that of—in this instance—my Department.

Since 2003, matters concerning Merseyrail have been entirely devolved, and have been the responsibility of the transport authority, Merseytravel, and the train operator itself. Although that prevents me from commenting directly on many of the points raised by the hon. Gentleman, I will do my best to give him a worthwhile response that deals with the broader issues that he has raised. Sadly, tempted though I am to try to engage with his wider points about Labour party policy, time probably does permit me to explain fully why I think that the idea of a state monopoly should fill every single passenger with nothing but dread.

[Ian Mearns]

Will the Minister give way?

[Paul Maynard]

Given the lack of available time, it is only fair that if there are interventions, I should devote my responses to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton. He can choose the moment at which to launch his salvo in my direction, but I suspect that divergence will increase as my speech proceeds.

Merseyside in particular has experienced the value of the public-private partnership that has driven the renaissance in passenger rail services since 1996, but before I say more about Merseyrail in particular, I want to take a minute to look at the bigger picture.

Just a few weeks ago, we published our rail spending commitments for the period up to 2024: £34.7 billion of public investment in our railway plus £13.2 billion from private sources including network charges and fares. This carries into another decade the greatest investment in our railways since the time of Queen Victoria. It will deliver improvements in punctuality and reliability for passengers, as well as supporting thousands of jobs in the supply chain and the wider economy. Why are we making this money available? It is for quite a simple reason—because the privatisation of our railways has succeeded. I will never apologise for repeating the statistics. Passenger journeys have more than doubled since 1995. We now have the most improved railway in Europe, and the safest major railway.

As Merseyrail is a devolved concession, key strategic decisions are made at a local level by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. Merseyrail holds a 25-year concession, which commenced in July 2003, with the efficient operator reviews undertaken every five years. Merseytravel lets the concession for the Merseyrail network, setting the specification for service provision and the terms and conditions of contract under powers devolved from the Department for Transport back in 2003. The Merseyrail concession is different from most train franchise contracts, which are awarded by the Department for Transport. The only other franchise that is even remotely similar is that of the London Overground network. This local concession agreement has allowed both Merseytravel and Merseyrail to work closely together to respond to local demands and needs. Ultimately, the greatest beneficiaries are the passengers.

The length of the concession—25 years—distinguishes Merseyrail from many other train operating companies, whose contracts average between seven and 10 years. For this reason, Merseyrail and Merseytravel are in the enviable position of being able to take a long-term perspective on the investment and development of their rail services. This arrangement means that control of the concession rests wholly within the city region, ensuring strategic direction and leadership with a strong local focus and ensuring that developments fit with the city region’s prioritised requirements embedded within the wider long-term rail strategy that it has developed itself. The nature of the concession sees Merseytravel working in close collaboration with Merseyrail, directly addressing local demands for the ultimate benefit of passengers.

When the previous franchise ended back in 2003, local politicians quite clearly wanted to respond to the needs of the rail users much better, and to implement changes that would improve the network for the benefit of customers and support the growth of the city region economy. They wanted a longer-term partnership approach with the operator to enable ongoing investment programmes to continue with risk being shared. This led to a highly demanding specification based on customer requirements and the needs of the local economy. Following a robust procurement process, 2003 saw the transfer of responsibility for the Merseyrail Electrics heavy rail franchise from the then Strategic Rail Authority to Merseytravel.

--- Later in debate ---

[Paul Maynard]

As I have said, we have committed £82 million in this calendar year, which will give Merseytravel the confidence to make investments in rolling stock. It can choose how to invest that money. I think that Labour Members would be deeply disappointed, or indeed apoplectic, if I were to start questioning the decisions of the elected city Mayor of Liverpool or of the city region Mayor. The point of devolution is that local people have to take these decisions, through their representatives, and that is what they are doing.

The investment that we have made facilitated the operation of longer trains in 2008 and the doubling of Liverpool to Chester services in 2010. In 2014, Merseyrail also invested £3 million to make a second fleet refurbishment possible. Those are all examples of investment occurring in Merseyrail. Indeed, Merseytravel and Merseyrail have regularly jointly funded extra late-night trains during special events and trains on Boxing day, and this approach has been a great success. Passenger demand has consistently exceed targets. It has grown over 30%, from 27 million passengers a year to well over 35 million now, and it is approaching the point where the current train fleet, one of the oldest in the UK, will need the £460 million investment in new trains that will be rolled out for passengers by 2020.

In closing, I hope that I have been able to demonstrate how the public-private partnership between Merseytravel and Merseyrail has helped to transform rail services in Liverpool over the past 14 years, and that there is no reason to suspect that local politicians in Liverpool are unable to take decisions in the interests of their city region.

[Ian Mearns]

Will the Minister give way?

[Paul Maynard]

Given that I have a short time left, it would be churlish of me not to give way.

[Ian Mearns]

The Minister is not addressing the issue of having a second safety-critical person on the train. This applies not only to Merseyrail but to franchises around the country. He should have a clear position on the presence of a second safety-critical person on the train.

[Paul Maynard]

The topic of our discussion tonight is the presence of guards on Merseyrail trains. As Labour Members will know, they have a multiplicity of local Labour politicians to discuss this matter with, including the chair of Merseytravel, the elected city Mayor in Liverpool and the elected city region Mayor, all of whom have stood behind this decision. If we truly believe in devolving transport powers, we have to respect the decisions that are taken.

Let me restate my congratulations to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton on securing the debate. I am sure that he has had a ready audience across Merseyside for his comments—as I have said, I am sure that I was not the intended audience for those comments—and I am sure that the discussion will continue among his colleagues around Merseyside. We will monitor with interest what occurs.

Question put and agreed to.