The Government’s rail reform plans are failing to put passenger and taxpayers needs first, MPs have said.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has “achieved very little” despite a “root and branch review” of the railways six years ago, a critical report by the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found.
The reform programme has not progressed with many of the proposals and associated benefits largely “on hold” until the next parliament when legislation can be passed.
The influential committee said the DfT needed a “sense of urgency” in addressing the things that will “make a real difference for passengers and taxpayers now”.
It called for improvements to the punctuality and reliability of trains and better contact with the railway workforce “expected to implement reforms on the ground”.
It also called for improved accessibility to the network, which continues to be “off limits to so many people”. Despite promises of improved access in 2018 MPs said little had been done to help disabled passengers, families with children and passengers travelling with luggage.
MPs said they had yet to see convincing evidence the current reforms will “bring about the improvements needed” and pointed out that other rail reviews in the past 20 years had failed to make a difference.
The MPs report said: “Although the department claims that improving passenger experiences is at the heart of its reform plans, poor performance persists across the rail network – in 2022-23, 13.7 per cent of trains were delayed and 3.8 per cent were cancelled.”
It said the DfT was continuing to subsidise passenger rail services at a level its “considers unsustainable (£3.1bn in 2022-23)”.
“The department knows it needs to increase revenues and reduce costs to get to a more sustainable position, but its focus is on managing costs, while revenue goes directly to HM Treasury, along with responsibility for making up any shortfalls.
“This means that the department, train operating companies and HM Treasury have different priorities… and the current set up does not create the right incentives to get the best value for money.”
The PAC report follows a critical report by the spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, which said that despite key parts of the reform being paused until the next parliament, long-standing issues on the railway remain, including its “financial stability and affordability, culture, and the service provided for passengers”.
The watchdog said the DfT “is not yet set up to secure value for money from its work to reform rail.”
