Oral Answers to Questions

Tim Loughton Excerpts

Thursday 18th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Jesse Norman]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his comment. He will be aware that we have this matter closely under review, and we are continuing to discuss it with suppliers and forecourt operators. In some other EU countries, there has been no such mandate and there has nevertheless been significant take-up.

[Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)]

11. What steps he is taking to ensure the provision of adequate compensation for passengers on Southern Rail as a result of poor service in the past 12 months.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Chris Grayling)]

My hon. Friend knows full well that I absolutely understand the difficulties that his constituents have faced. I hope he will accept that performance has improved over the past year, since the height of industrial action. We have had compensation arrangements in place, including the special compensation for past disruption, which saw £13.6 million paid to 58,000 passengers. We have also taken steps forward on the ways to implement Delay Repay and will keep the situation under review.

[Tim Loughton]

On 2 December 2016, the Secretary of State said in a written statement:

“Southern passengers have suffered from unprecedented and sustained disruption to their journeys during 2016”,

and offered some very welcome compensation for season ticket holders. The problem is that Southern passengers suffered from unprecedented and sustained disruptions to their journeys during 2017 as well. In fact, the punctuality figures for the most recent quarter are even worse. When are my constituents going to be compensated this year?

[Chris Grayling]

As I said, additional compensation measures are in place now. The issues that network currently faces are all to do with the condition of the infrastructure. My hon. Friend will know that we have just announced two major closures to allow upgrade works to take place, and there is a substantial ongoing programme of investment in that route, which I hope will make a significant difference.