Passenger Rail Services
Thursday, 29 October 2026
Contributions
Dave Robertson (Lichfield) (Lab)Labour
6. What steps she is taking to improve passenger rail services.
Jo Stevens (Cardiff East) (Lab)Labour
10. What steps she is taking to improve passenger rail services.
The Secretary of State for Transport (Heidi Alexander)Labour
For too long, our railways have not been run in the service of passengers. We are turning this around, with six operators already brought into public ownership under this Government and the renationalisation of Great Western Railway on 13 December. Next year, the creation of Great British Railways will bring the management of track and train together, ending decades of fragmentation, and delivering better and more reliable services for passengers.
My constituents rely on the Cross-City line to get them in and out of Birmingham, but the last train back from Birmingham in the evening does not run as far as Lichfield, meaning that we cannot make the most of the nightlife there. As Christmas approaches, does the Secretary of State agree that it is time to change that and boost the evening service from New Street to Lichfield City, so that my constituents can make the best of Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas market?
I thank my hon. Friend for his tireless campaigning on rail issues, and I know these services would make a real difference for his constituents over the Christmas period. I welcome the work done by West Midlands Trains and the local community on developing proposals for this trial. I think our publicly owned railways should work in the service of passengers, and these extra trains would be a great example of that. I very much back his call for this trial to take place.
I thank my right hon. Friend, because my Cardiff East constituents were absolutely delighted with the announcement yesterday of £30 million for Cardiff Parkway station. Mine is the only constituency in the capital city without a train station, so this will be transformational for growth, jobs and travel. Before the Senedd election, the Welsh Labour Government agreed to a funding contribution, alongside private investors, to ensure that this project is delivered. Can she please confirm whether, in the five months since that election, the minority Plaid Government have said they will honour that intergovernmental agreement?
It is for the new Welsh Government to confirm their own contribution to this project, so that we can get on and deliver it as quickly as possible. To my knowledge, no such confirmation has been provided to date. I am really pleased that we confirmed our contribution in the Budget yesterday, and I congratulate my right hon. Friend on her campaigning on this issue for her constituents. She was an excellent Welsh Secretary, and it was an absolute delight to work alongside her and start to put right the historical wrongs of under-investment in the Welsh railways.
Steve Barclay (North East Cambridgeshire) (Con)Conservative
May I constructively suggest a way in which the Secretary of State could help three Cabinet colleagues—the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, who is building a major reservoir in my constituency; the Housing Secretary, who has big plans within Cambridgeshire; and the Chancellor, who often talks about the Oxford-Cambridge arc? Securing a light rail link to the reservoir will shape the public response to it, but the Department for Transport currently does not seem to be involved at all with the other Departments. I do not expect her to be familiar with the scheme—it is primarily for one of her colleagues—but could she write to me setting out what her Department might do to help those other Departments deliver on their aims?
This Government are investing considerably in improving rail services and public transport connections in Cambridgeshire. I would be happy to follow up on the detail of the right hon. Member’s proposal. I would just say that, with the East West Rail proposals linking Oxford to Cambridgeshire and the opening of the new station at Cambridge South, significant investment is going into this part of the country, but I will come back to him with the detail on his point.
Tom Gordon (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (LD)Liberal Democrat
In yesterday’s Budget, there was one mention of Northern Powerhouse Rail. One of the easiest ways to deliver benefit for passengers would be to unlock the indefinitely paused York area capacity scheme. Will the Secretary of State commit to continuing to look at this, and make sure that passengers in Harrogate and Knaresborough, and along that line, get trains when they need them with the service they would expect?
As part of Northern Powerhouse Rail, we are prioritising improvements in the Yorkshire region, such as services from York to Leeds, and between Sheffield, Bradford and Leeds. Indeed, I was in Bradford just last week to make the announcement about a brand-new station at Bradford, which is much needed. I know the hon. Member continues to champion the case for the York area capacity study. We will continue to keep all of this under review, because we must provide the right number of trains, where people need them and when they need them.
Dr Marie Tidball (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)Labour
The Penistone line, which runs through my constituency, serves over half a million people, eight constituencies, six hospitals, four universities and a network of colleges, schools and GP surgeries, but it has only one train an hour. Our Government are funding phase 1 of upgrading the line, but further funding is needed to deliver phase 2 to enable two trains an hour along our line—the spine that connects south and west Yorkshire. Does the Secretary of State agree with me that delivering both phases of the upgrade together will most effectively secure two trains an hour, and will she meet me ahead of the next spending review to discuss delivering the full upgrade and two trains an hour to ensure growth in every postcode along the line?
My hon. Friend and I have met on this issue, and she is right to say that the Government are making that investment in phase 1. I remember discussing it with her when I was at Sheffield station for the Northern Powerhouse Rail announcement earlier this year. I would be happy to continue those conversations about phase 2 as we head into the next spending review.
Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)Liberal Democrat
My London constituency does not have a tube service. My residents are entirely reliant on South Western Railway services to get to work, school and elsewhere. Stations such as Hampton and Whitton have seen passenger footfall close to or exceeding half a million in the last year, yet the services are infrequent and less reliable since nationalisation. Will the Secretary of State back my call, supported by thousands of local residents with the timetable review under way, for far more frequent and reliable services for such stations?
The hon. Lady is right to mention the timetable review that is under way. I would be happy to discuss with South Western the options with regard to Hampton and Whitton. I would just note that one of the benefits of renationalising South Western Railways has been the roll-out of the new Arterio fleet of air-conditioned trains that are providing more capacity. I also recognise the important work that South Western has done to reduce the number of cancellations that come about as a consequence of the unavailability of staff. We need to get the basics right on South Western to provide the service that she and her constituents deserve.
Mr SpeakerSpeaker
I call the shadow Minister.
Alison Griffiths (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) (Con)Conservative
Labour promised that nationalisation would deliver a more reliable railway. Two years on, it is getting worse. Between April and June, all Government-run operators saw cancellations rise or punctuality fall. Ministers say that Great British Railways will turn that around when it launches next year. They promised its implementation timetable and draft licence consultation this autumn. On this last sitting day of October, neither has yet appeared. When will they, and when will passengers see the improvements they were promised?
May I start by congratulating the hon. Lady on her appointment to the Opposition Front Bench? I think this is the first opportunity that I have had a chance to do so from the Dispatch Box. She is right in some respects. We do need to make more progress on improving punctuality and reliability, and I cannot pretend that I am happy with performance across the entirety of the rail network at the moment. However, I would gently point out to her that at the last reporting period, cancellations across publicly-owned operators were 3.9% compared to 4.9% for operators yet to transfer and still in private ownership. On punctuality, 82.6% of stops by publicly-owned operators were within three minutes of their scheduled arrival time, compared with just 73.8% for operators yet to transfer.
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
Olly Glover (Didcot and Wantage) (LD)Liberal Democrat
A £1 billion order for 29 new five-car, battery-electric trains for TransPennine Express was recently announced. While welcome, it has raised some eyebrows, with Modern Railways magazine estimating that the cost is nearly double that of conventional electric-only trains. It would cost a staggering £25.2 billion for similar deals to replace England’s passenger trains that have diesel engines. Are we on the right value-for-money track with this approach to rolling stock specification and procurement?
I was delighted to be in Derby a few weeks ago to announce the new fleet of battery-electric trains for TransPennine Express. It is a £1.2 billion investment. Included in that are hundreds of millions of pounds of maintenance costs for the duration of that contract. We are working on procurements for both Southeastern trains and Northern trains at the moment. Value for money and affordability will be central to the decisions we make on those procurements.
Source: UK Parliament Hansard API. Debate ID: 5428127.