Oral Answers to Questions

Robert Neill Excerpts

Thursday 19th April 2018 Commons Chamber

[Joseph Johnson]

That is an important subject, which we hope the new east coast partnership will help to address.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I know the whole House will want to join me in congratulating the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) on his engagement to Ann-Louise Whittaker, and may I say to the hon. Gentleman that, notwithstanding the fact that he is a very young man to be planning to rush into matrimony, we all wish him and Ann-Louise a very happy wedding on Friday 27 July?

[Robert Neill]

That is very kind, Mr Speaker; Ann-Louise and I are very grateful to you.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

14. What assessment he has made of the reliability of rail services on metro routes in south-east London.

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Joseph Johnson)]

I echo your good wishes to my hon. Friend, Mr Speaker.

All train operators must deliver the performance benchmarks set out in the franchise agreements that cover all their passenger services. In respect of Southeastern’s metro service, its public performance measure has improved from 87% to nearly 89% over the past year.

[Robert Neill]

Is the Minister not concerned, first, that many of the regular commuters on our line do not regard the performance measures as reflecting reality, particularly in the rush hour, and, secondly, that Network Rail only a couple of days ago published a suggestion that performance will actually deteriorate over the next coming years and will not pick up again until 2024? I would like our wedding guests to come on the train, but I do not think I can advise them to do so at the moment; does the Minister agree that the situation is wholly unacceptable, and what will he do about it?

[Mr Speaker]

Before 27 July.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ms Ghani]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important issue. I am glad he has brought it to my attention and I am more than happy to have a meeting with him to discuss it further.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

Yesterday, my hon. Friend—my very good friend—the Minister of State responded to an Adjournment debate on impacts of the timetable changes of the Thameslink programme. He said that Members were welcome to suggest changes where there had been negative impacts. May I suggest to him that the reduction in services from Orpington to Victoria via Bromley South is precisely such a negative change, which should be looked at urgently?

[Joseph Johnson]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. Of course, that matter is close to my heart and I will be paying extraordinary attention to it in the coming months.