Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to reduce train delays on the West Coast Mainline.

Improving rail performance is one of this Government’s strategic priorities for transport. We are determined to deliver more punctual and reliable services as well as better value for money for the taxpayer.

In response to our challenge to improve performance, the rail industry has set out a Performance Restoration Framework, with five clear areas of focus to recover performance to acceptable levels, including timetable resilience, staffing and how to keep trains moving during disruptive events.

Avanti West Coast (AWC) is beginning to see consistent and steady performance improvements on the network. However, there is still more to do with punctuality behind the industry average and Network Rail infrastructure reliability continuing to be a leading cause of passenger disruption on the West Coast Mainline.

The Rail Minister is in regular contact with the AWC Managing Director and Network Rail, to challenge poor performance and demand immediate action to deliver urgent improvements.