Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how the Railways Bill will ensure that access rights to the network are fair, transparent and enforceable, particularly where Great British Rail will both manage infrastructure and operate services.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The new access framework within the Railways Bill will ensure that GBR will determine the best use of the network capacity for all operators in accordance with its statutory duties. New legislation will include key safeguards for third party operators, ensuring that GBR’s decisions on network access are fair and transparent with a strong route of appeal to the ORR. GBR will be required to design and consult with industry on its access and use policy which will set out the processes and criteria on how it will take access and capacity allocation decisions, and on which the ORR will be a statutory consultee.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2026 to Question 98657 on Railways: Nationalisation, if he will list the performance benchmarks that operators have (a) failed and (b) passed since April 2025 by (i) private and (ii) public operator.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Performance across the rail network is improving, with cancellations now at 3.6%, down from a peak of 4.1% last January. We set stretching but achievable contractual targets for operators to drive continuous improvement in performance. Since April 2025, all publicly owned operators have fallen below the expected level for at least one of the following measures in a four-weekly period: Time to 3 (T3) punctuality and All stations cancellations. Over the same period, all privately operated train companies have also fallen below the expected level for at least one of their contractual benchmarks, including TOC-on-self cancellations, Delay Minutes, Short Formations, Time to 3, Time to 15 and All cancellations.
Overall, operators currently in public ownership remain more reliable on average than those in private ownership.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department's report entitled Rail customer experience survey pilot report, published on 25 April 2024, what plans she has to use the survey findings to inform performance standards for public sector rail operators.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department uses customer insight data, including emerging findings from the newly introduced Rail Customer Experience Survey, to inform performance management of all train operating companies, including those which are publicly-owned. The Services Agreement for publicly owned operators also states that performance will be measured using the new survey when data allows.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the Chief Constable of the British Transport Police about increasing officer numbers serving the rail network in the West Midlands.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The British Transport Police has recently been given an increased budget - a 15% rise with an increase of £63 million over the three-year settlement, which will see over 200 additional officers over two years, improving coverage at key hubs across England, Scotland and Wales including the West Midlands.
The West Midlands is covered by BTP’s C division, which currently has 700 officers. This will be further bolstered by BTP’s new officer intakes once they’ve completed their initial training.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of rail services that have been returned to state ownership on the level of service in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Under public ownership, South Western Railway will be undertaking a complete redesign of its timetable, which will include reviewing services in Surrey Heath constituency. In the assessment of options, adjusting service levels to meet passenger demand will be considered, alongside other factors such as reducing the net subsidy requirement of the railway and improving operational performance.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to ensure that Metro Mayors retain roles in heavy rail governance under the provisions of the Railways Bill.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Great British Railways (GBR) will work in partnership with Mayoral Strategic Authorities, underpinned by statutory roles outlined in the Railways Bill. The Railways Bill enables cooperation between GBR and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, allowing for information sharing and the ability to enter into arrangements regarding railway functions.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of rail journeys used fully digital tickets in January 2026.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The approximate proportion of tickets fulfilled as Digital Tickets for January 2026 are:
January 2026 | ||
Digital | 87% | 105m |
Non Digital | 13% | 15m |
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department has taken to improve the reliability of rail services that have been returned to state ownership.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Public ownership is a vital step towards rebuilding trust and pride in our railways. On average, publicly owned DfT train operators perform better on punctuality and cancellations than those yet to come under DfT ownership. The department expects all operators, public and private, to deliver good performance for passengers.
Asked by: Lewis Atkinson (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the performance of Network Rail and Northern Trains in the refurbishment of Sunderland station.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail has apologised for the frustration and inconvenience caused to the people of Sunderland. It has conducted an investigation of the issues raised, and I am aware that Northern is working with the honourable member to improve various aspects of the station.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2026 to Question 108013, whether the Department has identified any financial year in which the cumulative efficiency savings attributed to Network Rail are expected to exceed the cumulative costs of the major technology investments cited in support of those efficiencies.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail's overall Control Period 7 (running from April 2024 to March 2029) efficiency target is £3.9 billion, which it remains on track to achieve. This will significantly exceed the cumulative cost in Control Period 7 of the major technology investments previously cited (Digital Signalling, Electrical Safety and Delivery, and Project Reach).