Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve platform advance notice, customer experience and waiting hall overcrowding at London Euston station.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Euston station was designed for a different era and we acknowledge that it needs major investment and modernisation. For the majority of the time the station works, however during times of major disruption, there simply isn’t enough room for passengers and we know this can make for an uncomfortable and unpleasant environment.
Network Rail is developing plans for a major upgrade to London Euston station. Making the best use of tax-payer money, we will deliver a brand-new station concourse that’s fit for the future, and offers much better facilities to passengers. Network Rail continue to work with partners to ensure the upgraded station integrates with the new HS2 station, provides enhancements to wider local transport facilities and offers new homes, community, office and retail spaces.
Ahead of this, the Journey to a Better Euston programme is helping to improve passenger experience, reduce congestion, and enhance the provision of travel information in the short term. Building on improvements delivered over the last 12 months, which included displaying train and customer information on the station's large screen and upgrading the toilets, further plans include:
These measures are designed to improve advance notice of services, alleviate overcrowding, and deliver a better overall experience for all users of London Euston station.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many safety breaches have there been at rail road level crossings in Greater Manchester since 2015.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Great Britain’s level crossings are among the safest in Europe. The number of incidents at rail-road level crossings in Greater Manchester since 2017/18 is set out below. No comparable data is available for previous years.
.
Fiscal Year | Incidents |
2017/2018 | 38 |
2018/2019 | 34 |
2019/2020 | 31 |
2020/2021 | 15 |
2021/2022 | 36 |
2022/2023 | 40 |
2023/2024 | 58 |
2024/2025 | 41 |
2025/2026 (to 12 December) | 38 |
Total | 331 |
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what is being done to improve train driver availability and reduce train cancellations and delays that are caused by a lack of trained staff.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All train operating companies have been asked to complete a seven-point traincrew resourcing proposal as part of their annual business plan. These plans cover staffing levels, recruitment, training, overtime and planning efficiency in order to improve reliability.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the levels of brightness of street lighting on community safety; and whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on this issue since July 2024.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The management of street lighting in England is the responsibility of local highway authorities, who have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the public highways in their charge, including street lighting. Authorities do not have a duty to light their networks but, where lighting has been provided, the authority has a duty to maintain it.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department are considering introducing a requirement for users to (a) licence and (b) insure (1) e bikes and (2) e scooters.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are no plans to require the licensing or insurance of e-bikes. A previous detailed review of licensing and insurance for all cyclists (including e-bike users) concluded that the cost and complexity of introducing such a system would far outweigh the benefits.
Private e-scooters are illegal to use on public roads, cycle lanes and pavements. Rental e-scooters can only be used as part of the Government’s national rental e-scooter trials, in which e-scooters must be covered by a motor vehicle insurance policy, and users must have at least a provisional driving licence.
The Government has committed to pursuing legislative reform for micromobility vehicles, which is likely to include e-scooters, when parliamentary time allows. No decisions on future micromobility legislation have yet been made and we will use evidence from the trials to learn how to effectively and safely regulate them.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential implications for Government policies of trends in the level of street clutter on the character of urban areas.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Management of local roads, including placement of fixed street furniture such as signs, benches, bins and cycle racks, is the responsibility of local traffic authorities. Neither good traffic management, nor good streetscape design is helped by over-provision and clutter. The Department’s good practice advice in the Traffic Signs Manual and the Manual for Streets stresses the importance of designing streets in such a way as to reduce clutter. These are available at the following links:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/traffic-signs-manual
www.gov.uk/government/publications/manual-for-streets.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to prevent the sale of log-in details for DVSA driving tests.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State for Transport announced on 12 November significant changes to DVSA’s driving test booking system following a public consultation. The changes will allow a learner driver only to book a test and will limit changes that can be made to that test once booked. ADIs and businesses will no longer be able to access the booking system and this will eradicate the practice of re-selling tests.
The changes which will be introduced from Spring 2026 will make the practical driving test booking process fairer, providing all learners with equal access to the booking system and ensuring that everyone pays the prescribed fee.
While the majority of driving instructors who use DVSA’s booking services do so as intended, DVSA takes action to prevent learner drivers from exploitation and limit opportunities for misuse of the online booking services. DVSA has a zero tolerance for those who exploit learner drivers. In addition, DVSA will investigate any breaches reported to them.
In January 2025, DVSA introduced tougher terms and conditions for using the booking service to help prevent anyone from selling tests at profit. Since the introduction of the revised terms and conditions, and as of 17 November 2025, DVSA has removed access for 346 businesses and driving instructors for misuse of the booking service.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had discussions with Uber on the recognition of local Trade Union branches for its drivers.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The recognition of local trade union branches has not been discussed with Uber.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many complaints were reported to British Transport Police for (a) antisocial behaviour, (b) sexual harassment, (c) sexual assault and (d) physical assault on trains in each of the past three years.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The British Transport Police have provided the following figures for the last 3 years. Passenger numbers have been increasing year-on-year since the easing of Covid-19 travel restrictions and will account for some of the increase in crime reports. Overall, the railway is a safe environment, with 26.0 crimes recorded per million passenger journeys in 2024/25 (0.0026%), this was 26.8 in 2023/24 and 24.4 in 2022/23.
Offence/Incident Type | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
Antisocial Behaviour | 30998 | 32900 | 40932 |
Unwanted Sexual Behaviour | Not available | 1830 | 1958 |
Sex offences | 2251 | 2433 | 2655 |
Violence including assault | 12260 | 14582 | 15522 |
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of train services between Manchester and London in 2025; and how much has been spent on delay repay compensation to customers on those services in 2025.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Avanti West Coast is beginning to see consistent and steady performance improvements on the network. However, there is still more to do with punctuality behind the industry average and poor Network Rail infrastructure reliability continuing to be a leading cause of disruption, including on the Manchester route. In 2025, service levels to Manchester increased with two additional weekday services added to the timetable from September.
The Government produces annual figures relating to the amount of compensation that is paid out by train operating companies. The data for 2024/25 has been collected and will be published shortly. The data for 2025/26 will be collected at the end of the financial year and subsequently published.