Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with (a) Abellio Greater Anglia and (b) Govia Thameslink Railway franchise on improving the standards of service.

The Department holds regular discussions with all franchise train operators about their performance.

In Govia Thameslink Railway’s (GTR) case, since it took over the franchise in September last year, the performance on its Great Northern route has been good. However, performance on the Thameslink route has not been good enough. Senior officials and I have been working with GTR and Network Rail to ensure that the industry identifies and addresses the key issues affecting performance and develops and implements plans to drive improvements in punctuality and reliability for passengers as soon as possible. I have set up regular meetings with industry partners at the most senior level to review its progress against these plans, and recent performance has shown improvement.

The Department has worked with Abellio Greater Anglia and Network Rail to identify the key issues affecting performance and develop long-term plans to improve punctuality and reliability. Abellio Greater Anglia’s recent performance by Public Performance Measure had shown five periods of improvement, and though it has dropped off in the last period for which figures are available, was still broadly on target.

The inner metropolitan services on the West Anglia and Great Eastern Mainline were, as of 31 May this year, devolved to the remit of Transport for London (TfL). Abellio Greater Anglia and the TfL concessionaires are cooperating closely to ensure the standards of service improve.