Train Operating Companies — House of Lords, 2016-12-06
Topic: Transportation
Tariq Ahmad (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, with the leave of the House, I shall now repeat in the form of a Statement the Answer given earlier today by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport to an Urgent Question on the Government’s plan for train operating companies. The Statement is as follows: "This morning, I laid a Written Ministerial Statement in both Libraries of the House setting out my vision for reforming the railways in a way that puts passengers at the heart. This is about providing better, more reliable journeys for passengers Britain’s railways are crucial to our economic future, and we have seen very substantial growth in passenger numbers since privatisation, but this growth brings challenges, and the impact of disruption can be immediate, significant and wide-ranging. So our railways need to adapt and change in order to be able to cope with this huge expansion in the number of passengers. We are spending very large amounts of money trying to tackle the challenge, with new and longer trains and more capacity across the country—big projects such as Crossrail and small projects that make a difference locally Earlier this year, Nicola Shaw recommended that Network Rail devolve responsibility to the route level. I support the principles of the Shaw report, and I support Network Rail’s reform programme, but there is more to do. I therefore intend to press ahead with Sir Roy McNulty’s recommendation on how to make the railways run better and more cost-effectively. I will do this initially at an operational level. In order for all those involved to be incentivised to deliver the best possible service for the passenger, I expect the new franchises, starting with South Eastern and East Midlands, to have integrated operating teams between train services and infrastructure that work together in the interests of the passenger. I will also invite Transport for London and Kent County Council to be more closely involved in developing the next South Eastern franchise by embedding their own representatives in the team that develops, designs and monitors that franchise We will continue to develop the model for greater alignment of track and train as further franchises are renewed, including the option of joint ventures. In the meantime, my department is also publishing an update to the rail franchising schedule, which I am placing in the Libraries of the House I also want to bring new skills into the challenge of upgrading our railways. I will begin by looking at the reopening of the link from Oxford to Cambridge. I am going to establish East West Rail as a new and separate organisation to accelerate the permissions needed to reopen the route, and to secure private sector involvement to design, build and operate the route as an integrated organisation. This East West Rail organisation will be established early in the new year and chaired by the former chief executive of Chiltern Rail, Rob Brighouse These reforms will set the railway on a firmer footing for the future. We can and will make sure that our rail network plays its part in making this a country that works for everyone. I will bring forward a new strategy for rail in due course".