Transport

Paul Maynard Excerpts

Monday 10th October 2016 Ministerial Corrections

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

13. What steps he is taking to reduce overcrowding on passenger rail services.

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

This Government are making the biggest investment in our railways since the Victorian era, enabling more trains and longer trains to operate on many of our busiest routes. More than 563 new carriages are planned to enter service by the end of 2020.

[Official Report, 15 September 2016, Vol. 614, c. 1028.]

[Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough) (Lab)]

The service on Southern is officially the worst in the country, and passengers have endured appalling overcrowding for far too long. Removing hundreds of services a day has served only to exacerbate overcrowding on the services that survive. When will the Secretary of State bring to an end the misery of long-suffering passengers and intervene, or does he agree with the former Rail Minister, who effectively said that there are no circumstances that would warrant Govia Thameslink Railway being stripped of this franchise?

[Paul Maynard]

I am sure the hon. Gentleman will welcome the fact that more than two thirds of the services that were taken out of the timetable have now been put back in again. Our focus is on restoring normality to the service and putting the interests of passengers first. The service is improving on a regular basis, with more services returning to the full timetable, and I will focus on that to make sure that we get back to the full timetable.

[Official Report, 15 September 2016, Vol. 614, c. 1029.]

Letter of correction from Paul Maynard:

Errors have been identified in the responses I gave to the hon. Members for Kingston upon Hull North (Diana Johnson) and for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald) during Questions to the Secretary of State for Transport.

The correct response should have been:

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

This Government are making the biggest investment in our railways since the Victorian era, enabling more trains and longer trains to operate on many of our busiest routes. Since 2010, more than 563 new carriages have been brought into service in England and Wales, and a further 5,032 are planned to enter service by the end of 2020.

The correct response should have been:

[Paul Maynard]

I am sure the hon. Gentleman will welcome the fact that one third of the services that were taken out of the timetable have now been put back in again. Our focus is on restoring normality to the service and putting the interests of passengers first. The service is improving on a regular basis, with more services returning to the full timetable, and I will focus on that to make sure that we get back to the full timetable.