Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to investigate the management and communications with customers of (a) Southern and (b) Network Rail.

We have been concerned about the direct and indirect impact of improvement works, poor performance and asset reliability on passengers; at times the delays and disruption for passengers have been inexcusable.

One of the key priorities in this new Parliament is to see train performance in the South-East improve.　Officials and I have been working closely with the Chief Executive of Network Rail, Mark Carne, and the Management team of Southern and GTR to understand the causes of the problems and the plans to solve the issue.

I have also been chairing weekly meetings with senior members of Network Rail, GTR and Southern to ensure progress is being made.　 Passengers are at the heart of these discussions; in particular the need for better communication with passengers. We are committed to see improvements in this area, as well as improvements to performance.