Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of recent trends in the number of point failures on the track between London Paddington and Reading.

Improving performance on the Great Western Main Line is a high priority for Network Rail and my Department. Passengers are not getting the level of service they deserve, although improvements are starting to show in the most recent rail period in terms of delay minutes. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has launched an investigation into poor train punctuality and reliability in the Network Rail Wales & Western Region and we look forward to the recommendations of this review.

I have been working closely with Network Rail on this issue over recent months including reviewing their improvement plan and joining a deep dive session to discuss progress against that plan. I also regularly discuss the issue with Network Rail Chief Executive Andrew Haines and am shortly due to meet with Rob Cairns, Network Rail’s Interim Managing Director for Western and Wales to reinforce the need for rapid improvements in performance.