Part of Opposition Day — [16th Allotted Day] — Student Maintenance Grants – in the House of Commons at 5:08 pm on 19 January 2016.
I beg to move,
That this House
believes that the rising cost of public transport is adding to the financial pressures facing many households;
notes that over 2,400 local authority-supported bus routes have been cut or downgraded since 2010; regrets that bus fares have risen by 26 per cent on average and regulated rail fares have risen by up to 38 per cent since 2010; further regrets delays to rail infrastructure projects including the electrification of the Great Western Main Line, the North TransPennine route and the Midland Main Line;
notes with regret the decision by the Scottish Government to award the ScotRail franchise to a private operator, rather than exploring alternative options;
calls on the Government to bring forward a buses bill as announced in the Queen’s Speech to enable the regulation of local bus networks;
and further calls on the Government to rule out the privatisation of Network Rail and instead extend to franchised services the model of rail public ownership that delivered record passenger satisfaction scores on the East Coast Main Line.
I start by wishing the Secretary of State a happy new year, although that will not have been the sentiment that came to most commuters’ minds when they returned to work a fortnight ago. I am afraid it will have been cold comfort to be told by the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, Claire Perry, on the day that fares rose again, that the Government’s plan for passengers was to improve journeys for everyone. The chief executive of Transport Focus gave a more accurate assessment:
“In some parts of the country, given rail performance has been so dire, passengers will be amazed there are any fare rises at all.”
Hon. Members who attended the Southern Railway summit in this place yesterday, and most travellers, would not be able to reconcile the Minister’s statement with their own experience of increasingly overcrowded and unreliable carriages.