East Coast Main Line

Lord Inglewood Excerpts

Tuesday 11th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)]

I am afraid that I do not have the time or facilities to give each Member of this House the train information that they need on their daily journeys, although I will do my best if they ask me. Of course, there is a serious point to this. The House will have heard before that, actually, Avanti has not breached the contract that it was awarded when the original contract was extended. That is why I meet Mr Mellors and his management team on a regular basis, because I am exhorting them to perform the contract that the Government contracted them to do. The noble Lord is right that sometimes the service is not very good.

[Lord Inglewood (CB)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that, as well as the detail of the timetable, its accuracy is at least as important?

[Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)]

I certainly would agree. It is a real skill on today’s railway to fit so many trains in, with so many different station calls. There is a serious point to the original question that the noble Lord asked, which is that there are some compromises to be made. The strange position that I find myself in after four years of saying, “Where is this timetable?” and “How are we going to put it in?” is that it had to come to the Minister for agreement to do it. I think there are probably only two other countries in the world where Ministers decide the times of trains: North Korea and Russia.