§ 9. Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley)What plans he has to ensure that train companies provide an improved service to passengers. [63573]
§ 22. Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle)What measures he has taken to ensure that train companies improve their services for passengers. [63587]
§ The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Mr. John Prescott)In November 1997, we agreed a concordat with the rail regulator and issued new statutory instructions and guidance to the franchising director, requiring him to put passengers' interests first, which the previous Government failed to do.
We are in the process of making three key appointments to strengthen passenger interests: a new chairman of British Rail, who will be prospective chairman of the strategic rail authority; a new franchising director, who will be the prospective chief executive of the SRA; and a new rail regulator.
On 26 November last year, my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport and I met representatives of all the passenger train companies and Railtrack to discuss the continuing performance problems and to thrash out a plan for immediate action. That included the provision of 800 new train drivers, 500 new vehicles and a new national passenger survey. On 25 February a rail summit will be held in London to deal with ensuring the longer-term improvements that we want.
§ Ann ClwydIn addition to the items on that impressive list, my right hon. Friend has spent a considerable amount 101 of time on ensuring the continuing safety of passengers travelling through the channel tunnel. I should like him to investigate an incident that took place on 3 December when a Select Committee group was returning from Brussels on Eurostar. The train was halted at Calais for more than two hours for what we were told were security reasons. No explanation of those reasons was given. Will he also investigate why luggage does not pass through the same screening process at Brussels as at Waterloo? When we returned from Brussels, our luggage was not checked.
§ Mr. PrescottI am concerned about what my hon. Friend says. I do not know about the details. I shall investigate the matter and write to her about it. She was able to ride on Eurostar because we rescued the failing financial deal on the channel tunnel rail link.
§ Mr. MartlewMay I bring my right hon. Friend back to the west coast main line, in which I have taken an interest for many years? I am sure that he is aware that that line provides a poor service and has a very bad reputation for punctuality. Much of that is due to Virgin's incompetence, but it is also due to the fact that Railtrack is failing to maintain the line. Is he aware that Railtrack has decided to cut back drastically on planned maintenance on the west coast main line, resulting in the loss of 17 jobs in my constituency? Can my right hon. Friend take any sanctions against Virgin or Railtrack for failing to provide an adequate service on the west coast?
§ Mr. PrescottI well understand my hon. Friend's frustration with the west coast main line. As he well knows, when I was an Opposition transport spokesman, I was in his constituency when I proposed a new way of privatising that line. It is a pity that the previous Government did not adopt my ideas as, if they had, we would now be riding on a modernised west coast main line instead of facing the current difficulties. The rail industry has shown shortsightedness by creating redundancies that have led to reductions in investment and in the quality of services. A good example was when the train operating companies made thousands of train drivers redundant and then found that they had no train drivers to deliver the services, hence the recent crash programme to find new train drivers. I am concerned by such reports. Railtrack is attending the rail summit and a strategic rail authority will advocate the interests of the travelling public much more effectively than in the past.
§ Sir Sydney Chapman (Chipping Barnet)Did the meeting last November that the Secretary of State attended with the Minister of Transport include a discussion of fares policy? Can the right hon. Gentleman confirm that, since privatisation, fares on the privatised rail companies have gone down in real terms, in stark contradistinction to the fares on the publicly owned London Underground, which have increased way above inflation? At the very least, will he seek to devise a policy so that, from now on, fare increases on London Underground are directly related to improvements in performance?
§ Mr. PrescottIt is very much the intention of the Government to achieve the quality of service that will be reflected in the fares, although a higher priority is to get more investment into railway systems that have not been 102 improved for the past decade or so, and particularly the underground. Along with the rail regulator and the franchising director, we shall be looking at precisely how the fares system fits into that. The agreement with the operating companies is currently being reviewed by the rail regulator and the franchising director.
§ Mr. Shaun Woodward (Witney)Is the Secretary of State aware of the absolute contempt with which his rail and transport policies are regarded in Oxfordshire? Does he have a view to offer my constituents in west Oxfordshire, who every day hope for a better rail service, but are no longer able to park at the station because there are insufficient spaces? While the right hon. Gentleman promotes his integrated transport policy, his Highways Agency closes the A34, has no consultation with the train companies to provide extra services and, in the past few months, has managed to bring the roads of Oxfordshire to a complete halt.
§ Mr. PrescottI am a little confused by the hon. Gentleman's comments, as rural areas in Oxfordshire have very much welcomed our rural grants and improved services, so I assume that they feel that the integrated transport policy is well worth it. Oxford city council, which is very much to the fore in developing the policy, is looking forward to the local transport plans announced in our White Paper, which provide something like £800 million. Parking is a problem in most cities. If my memory serves me well, there are park-and-ride facilities in Oxford which we wish to encourage and which are working successfully. There is demand for more such schemes, in the city of York, for example. The hon. Gentleman's comments do not fit into the facts of the case.
§ Mr. David Winnick (Walsall, North)Would it be possible for my right hon. Friend to suggest to Richard Branson that he should forget about the pleasures of balloon flying and travel in his own trains so that he can find out what a misery that is? I speak as one who uses the train service regularly. What a dismal failure transport privatisation has turned out to be.
§ Mr. PrescottIt is generally agreed that there has not been an improvement in the quality of the rail system following privatisation. I did not think that that was in dispute. However, we must improve the quality of the service, get the extra investment that is needed and make sure that the system is much more accountable in the passengers' interest. I have just announced some of the measures by which I think we will achieve that, and I will make them clear at the rail summit on 25 February in London. We will be able to make many points at the summit, and we will look at the long-term changes that people want. To be honest, I do not think that people really care whether the railway is privately or publicly owned—they just want a good system. I may feel that the system might be better under private or public ownership, but we have what we have and we intend to make it better.