Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keir Mather and Nia Griffith

Thursday 20th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Keir Mather)]

We are starting to see train reliability stabilise, following a decade of decline. We are working with the rail industry on a performance restoration framework, with five clear areas of focus to recover performance to acceptable levels. These include timetable resilience, staffing, and keeping trains safely moving during disruptive events. Rail usage is up month on month: some 451 million journeys were made on Britain’s railways last quarter, which is a 7% increase on the same period last year.

[Dame Nia Griffith]

I declare my interest in rail travel, as I travel by train weekly between London and my constituency of Llanelli. Far too often, Great Western Railway trains between Paddington and south Wales are delayed or cancelled at short notice, causing significant inconvenience and distress to passengers, including those from my constituency. The cause is often cited to be problems in the London-to-Reading area. What more can the Minister do to ensure that GWR and Network Rail make a lot more effort to significantly reduce delays and avoid cancellations?

[Keir Mather]

My hon. Friend is a champion for her constituents and their right to get to where they need to. We are pressing Network Rail and Great Western Railway to improve reliability, which has at times fallen below expectations in recent periods, partly due to recent flooding issues. We expect Network Rail and Great Western Railway to work together to resolve these issues on this most critical route.