On Wednesday I was pleased to join a number of South East MPs for a Westminster Hall debate on the issues with Southeastern Rail, which have gone on for far too long.
I echo the sentiments of many of my colleagues who took part in the debate. For too long people had been crammed on overcrowded trains, particularly at peak times, while suffering severe delays on an almost daily basis. That one in five trains come in late is not acceptable and the fact that this comes within Southeastern’s franchise target shows the desperate need for review.
Many of my constituents will be aware that I, along with my colleagues, have attended regular meetings and been in constant correspondence with Southeastern over the past few months, during which time the service has continued to decline. Unfortunately, despite the wonderful £20 million investment in our new station at Rochester, train users have seen the service decline rapidly, with delays, cancelled trains and lack of communication.
In my contribution to the debate, I spoke of how residents were hoping that the new station and the longer platforms would enable longer trains to be run, so that they could have seats on the train in the morning. Instead, the issues around lack of capacity prevail. In north Kent, particularly the Medway towns, we are being expected to deliver high housing numbers over the next 15 years. In Medway we are looking at a 30,000 increase in 15 to 20 years. Southeastern even agrees that it has had a 40% increase in capacity and use of its services.
My plea for the future is about how we will tackle the growth in the south-east. The reality is that Kent and south London are extremely important in providing a workforce in the City of London and Greater London. How can we deliver that and keep up with the demand?
Sadly, it is true that people are getting in their cars to come to London rather than using the trains. In my opinion, constituents – and all commuters in our region – deserve so much more value for their hard-earned money. I need to get to London on time, as do my constituents, but we also need to get home on time. People who work in London accept that they may be travelling for one or two hours to get to work, but they want to be able to get home, live their life, spend time with their children and do things other than work. Unfortunately, the service that Southeastern provides does not allow my constituents to have that extra time.
I know the Government recognise these issues in full, with the minister present at the debate, Rail Minister Claire Perry MP, saying performance on these services is not where it should be, nor where she wants it to be. The Minister referenced her chairmanship of the south-east quadrant taskforce all rail industry and regulatory stakeholders. The group is an attempt to sweep away all this blame game and accounting for who is wrong. Our constituents do not care who is responsible for a delay; they just want to make sure that they are going to get to work, or home to pick up and see their children, on time.
The minister also recognised that if there is a problem, all aspects of the industry should be working together to sort it out. I am pleased that the Minister used the debate to send a message to the industry that public performance measures, or right-time measures, that ignore the number of people whose lives are affected by disruption are irrelevant. We were assured that the Minister is working with the industry to try to ensure that the measures that are so often touted actually reflect the human experience of what is happening on the tracks.
Finally, I was also encouraged to hear the Minister address the question about whether Southeastern is meeting its franchise commitments. The Minister commented that when the franchise was originally let under the last Labour Government, and re-let under a direct award a couple of years ago, franchising tended to focus on processes and inputs, but that this was not good enough. Franchising should be about delivering outcomes, delivering performance and delivering customer satisfaction.
Following regular meetings with Southeastern, ministers and transport officials, this is another important and necessary step towards addressing the issues that cause stress and inconvenience to local commuters. I will be continuing to press the matter for improvements, particularly regarding the franchise, as a matter of urgency and will keep all updated with progress made.
You can read the full transcript of the debate here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmhansrd/cm160302/halltext/160302h0001.htm#16030288000001