Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill

Wendy Morton Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 29th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

I congratulate you on your new role, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also congratulate the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Josh Dean) on making his maiden speech. I am sure that he will learn and appreciate, as the weeks, months and even years go by, that there are times when we will argue and debate in this place, but there are many things that we also have in common. Like him, I left school and did not go to university until much later in life. The other common point I will mention—I will come to this in my contribution—is the importance of rail links to our local communities. They create a link to opportunity for young and old alike. I sincerely wish him well.

I was clear in my contribution to the King’s Speech debate that where I agree with the Government, I will say so. As a former Rail Minister, I would be one of the first to agree that the rail system needs reform. Post pandemic, we have seen that commuting and business travel have changed beyond all recognition, but so too has leisure travel, and the demand has changed greatly. The current system needs to make greater use of the public-private model, but crucially, it must also have a greater passenger focus.

There are 20 franchise train operating companies in Great Britain, with—let us be honest—levels of operational performance and cancellations that vary dramatically, as I am sure all across the House would agree. There is nothing more frustrating for someone than arriving at the train station on their way home at the end of the day, or at the end of the week from this place, only to find that their train is delayed or, worse still, has been cancelled.

For example, at one end of the spectrum, we have Avanti West Coast, one of the worst performers; its contract expires in 2026. Let us contrast that with West Midlands trains, one of the much better performers; its contract expires in September this year. I would hope that if the new Government were truly passenger-focused and wanted to get us moving forward, they would seek to address the worst performers first.

I have a few questions that I hope the Secretary of State or her Minister will answer in their summing up. What does the Bill actually mean for passengers? I have yet to understand that fully. I have yet to hear the Secretary of State confirm that prices will be cheaper, but perhaps she can do so today. We have heard that there will be a focus on the taxpayer, but what about the traveller? For too many, rail travel is still unaffordable, and I fear that it will become more unaffordable under these proposals.

What about the other aspects of the services? Will cleaning contracts be nationalised? What about catering? Will we see a return to the days of the British Rail sandwich? I do not think I am quite old enough to remember those days, but I have it on good authority that the British rail sandwich is somewhat emblematic of the unappetising fare of the nationalisation of our railways.

What about ticket offices and ticketing? We have heard that there should be improvements to ticketing, but what plans does the Secretary of State have? Will she keep them open or close them? Will there be more staff out on the platform to help passengers?

[Rachel Hopkins (Luton South and South Bedfordshire) (Lab)]

The right hon. Member mentioned ticket office closures. I remind her that that was the proposal from her previous Government.

--- Later in debate ---

[Wendy Morton]

It may well have been, but I am here to scrutinise the Government of the day. I will be the first to recognise that where ticket offices are selling one ticket a day, it makes much better sense to have those operators out on the platform helping people with, for example, accessibility issues and the machines. This whole point is about being truly passenger-focused.

I would also like to better understand what the investment will be in the training of train drivers. It takes a very long time for a train driver to be fully trained for any given route. Without a sufficient number of train drivers, we end up being in hock to the unions. Similarly, I would like to understand whether the new Government truly believe in a seven-day railway service, because that is what passengers expect. We expect trains to operate not just from Monday to Friday, but for seven days a week. I would therefore expect any rail operator, particularly under nationalisation, to offer that service as well.

On open access, I would like a greater understanding of what that model will look like. Will it be kept or not? The reason I ask that is really parochial and community-focused. My constituency is one of the very few that does not have a train station. Hon. Members may become rather tired of me saying this in the forthcoming weeks and months, but under the former Mayor of the West Midlands, we secured funding through the city region sustainable transport settlements, working with the council to move forward. We have the train line and the site identified for the car park. Everything was going forward. We even have an open access operator that is looking to put in a service from Wales direct to Euston, which would be an absolute game-changer for young and old alike in my constituency.

Sadly, the new Mayor of the West Midlands will not confirm that that project is going ahead; he prefers to hide behind a review. And after today’s announcement by the Chancellor, I fear that she is probably backing him and encouraging him down that route. As ever, though, I remain hopeful and wait to be convinced otherwise.

As we have heard today, Great British Railways is not an entirely new idea. When we were in government, our plan was to set it up as a public entity, joining track and train across the country. However, what we have in front of us today is very different: we have ideological nationalisation, risking taxpayers’ money, and a plan that the Government cannot confirm will reduce costs or increase capacity or reliability. In short, it does not put the fare-paying passenger first—this is a political choice.

[Mr Speaker]

I call Paul Foster to make his maiden speech.