The latest publication from the Public Accounts Committee also describes Government’s management of the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) franchise as ‘completely inadequate’.

 

Passengers, it says, have suffered an ‘appalling level of delays and cancellations’ since the franchise started in 2014, and the Department for Transport overlooked the poor condition of rail infrastructure when agreeing the terms of the franchise.

 

Network Rail told the committee that the infrastructure condition on the routes covered by the franchise has deteriorated to a point where it is unreliable, causing around 13% of the delays to services between July 2015 and March 2017.

 

Carrying out maintenance overnight – when it is least disruptive for passengers – became near impossible on certain parts of the network where TSGN operator Govia Thameslink runs services throughout the night, it added.

 

Network Rail also said that the Thameslink programme makes it even more important to improve the reliability of infrastructure, as the scheme will allow 24 trains an hour to pass through central London. Any problem, it pointed out, would have a significant knock on effect throughout the network, potentially delaying a number of services.

 

Network Rail is now planning to bring forward £900M of spending to replace old and dilapidated parts of the rail infrastructure earlier than it had intended to ensure it is able to accommodate this change.

 

The organisation is also now working more closely with Govia Thameslink on timetabling issues, which the firms say has led to a 38% improvement in the reliability of the railway infrastructure coming out of London Victoria station.

 

The Public Accounts Committee recommends that, from the next franchise it awards onwards, the Department for Transport should ensure that the priorities and incentives of Network Rail and the franchise operator are aligned to better serve the passenger.

 

Its report also criticises the Department’s failure to foresee the ‘perfect storm’ of an ambitious upgrade programme coupled with plans to increase driver controlled operation of trains on the TSGN franchise. This led to industrial action and a sustained period of disruption to passengers.

 

Committee chair Meg Hillier said: “The franchising model is broken and passengers are paying the price. If taxpayers are to have any faith in Government’s ability to deliver an effective passenger rail network then it must conduct and act on a thorough review before any further franchises are awarded.

 

“At its heart should be new measures to embed the protection of passengers’ interests at a contractual level – and to ensure taxpayers’ interests are properly protected should franchisee performance break down.”

 

A DfT spokesman said: “Our franchising model already puts passengers and taxpayers first and has doubled the number of passengers using trains since privatisation reversed decades of decline and underinvestment under British Rail.

 

“The delay and disruption Southern passengers experienced due to strike action in 2016 was unacceptable, but services have improved dramatically and a brand new programme will begin next month bringing further improvements to their journeys.”

 

A spokesman from Govia Thameslink Railway said: “GTR was established in 2014 to help deliver a major modernisation programme for the most congested railway in the UK. As the National Audit Office identified in a recent report, we have faced a wide range of difficulties since being formed in 2014. Not least among these was the industrial action which has been the primary cause of service disruption, according to the Gibb report. We regret the impact this has had on passengers.

“We have been making good progress to improve reliability. Southern Railway is a third more reliable compared with 2016 when the effect of industrial action was at its worst, while on Thameslink passenger satisfaction has hit a record high.

“This month we will transform services with a new timetable creating space for 40,000 more passengers at peak times along with new routes across a wide region. We are more confident than ever that these benefits will be felt by rail travellers for generations to come.”