HC Deb 15 January 1996 vol 269 cc394-5
4. Mr. Amess

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on his plan to privatise the Fenchurch Street line. [7445]

13. Sir Teddy Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made on the privatisation of the London-Tilbury-Southend line. [7454]

The Minister for Railways and Roads (Mr. John Watts)

The LTS rail franchise was awarded to Enterprise Rail Ltd., the management-employee buy-out team, on 20 December 1995. Enterprise Rail will deliver real quality of service benefits to passengers for less financial support than is currently being paid to British Rail.

Mr. Amess

Is my hon. Friend aware that my constituents could not care less who runs the Fenchurch Street line, except insofar as they want the trains to arrive on time, the fares to be maintained at a reasonable cost and to travel in relative comfort? Will my hon. Friend confirm that the privatisation will result in all of that, and will he take this opportunity to condemn inaccurate statements by Labour and Liberal politicians about the effects of the privatisation of the Fenchurch Street line on the level of services?

Mr. Watts

My hon. Friend will be pleased to tell his constituents that the new franchise operator has committed itself to the complete replacement of rolling stock on that line and has offered to increase the punctuality standard from the current 88 per cent. to 90 per cent. from 1 October 1996.

Sir Teddy Taylor

As the privatisation of LTS, which I fully support, is obviously very controversial, will the Minister ensure that the new operators will publish every quarter—perhaps every month—full details of changes, improvements or deterioration in reliability, so that the residents of Southend and other places can see for themselves whether privatisation makes an improvement or makes things worse?

Mr. Watts

Operators are required to publish details of their performance and, as I have just explained to the House, the performance standards against which their performance will be measured will be much more rigorous than those which apply to the current nationalised operation.

Mr. Mackinlay

Is not the minimum service requirement for the London-Tilbury-Southend line way below that of existing provision? What guarantees are there that the good intentions of those management people who have secured the franchise will be fulfilled? Is it not a fact that the overwhelming majority of the passengers who use the LTS line do not believe that the arithmetic will add up or that those people who will run that line will be able to maintain the services, let alone comply with the very attractive offer that they are now waving before us? Will the Minister ensure that the suggestion of the hon. Member for Southend, East (Sir T. Taylor) is fulfilled—that any backsliding, any deterioration on the commitments that those people have given, will be publicised and will be understood by the fare-paying passengers?

Mr. Watts

Passengers should stop listening to the hon. Gentleman and simply pay attention to the facts. It is not a matter of good intentions; it is a matter of contract. Enterprise Rail has contracted to maintain at least the existing level of service. There will be an additional off-peak service each hour from Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness Mondays to Saturdays. There will be a minimum frequency of 15 minutes during the peak hour for key stations. There will be an hourly Sunday service for Rainham, Purfleet, Dagenham and Dagenham Dock stations. Services will stop at Limehouse on Sunday and there will be two new services out of London after 10 pm Mondays to Saturdays.

Mr. Channon

Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the most important priorities on that line is that there should be new rolling stock? Is it not very welcome that under the new arrangements we are likely to have new rolling stock earlier?

Mr. Watts

My right hon. Friend is absolutely correct. Enterprise Rail has committed itself to an investment programme including the replacement of the entire fleet with new rolling stock, all to be completed by the year 2002, in addition to station redecoration and refurbishments, improved station security, public address systems and improved ticket issuing.

Mr. Mackinlay

Where will all the money come from?

Mr. Watts

From the efficiencies of the private sector.