Railways: Train Timetables

Lord Laming Excerpts

Wednesday 11th July 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, the rail industry has collectively failed to deliver for its customers. It is right that it apologise, and the Department for Transport has apologised too. As I have said, we are prioritising the reliability of the service, but I take the noble Lord’s point. That is why we have set up an independent inquiry —to understand what went wrong. We are eagerly awaiting its recommendations because we must learn these lessons, and we will.

[Lord Laming (CB)]

My Lords, I know that the Minister is sympathetic to those of us who have to rely upon Thameslink to get us here. It is not only that the company ignores its own timetable; it fails to inform its own staff and to keep its own website up to date. Everything at the present time is just a myth. Can the Minister do whatever she can to help Thameslink get just some of the fundamentals in place?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, I entirely agree that the information on what services are available is absolutely key, so that passengers can plan their journeys and buy their tickets. There have obviously been failures—big failures—in this but, with the introduction of the interim timetable on Sunday, we expect there to be more reliable services so that people can plan their journeys effectively.