Dear Constituent,
Thank you for contacting me about the Railways Bill, and for bringing We Own It’s Railways Bill parliamentary event on 11 February to my attention. Unfortunately, due to prior diary commitments, I was unable to attend the event.
I welcome any changes to the Railways Bill that improve passengers' journeys and create a better rail industry. That is why the Conservative Opposition has put forward dozens of amendments to ensure that groups such as veterans and young people can still access discount schemes, alongside maintaining a strong regulator, listening to the views of the travelling public, and ensuring that fares are set fairly. This includes a proposal that the Passengers’ Council must, at least once every twelve months, assess the levels of satisfaction among users of public passenger railway services.
However, I believe the Government’s focus on rail should be on increasing competition and bringing down prices, which would truly lead to growth in freight and result in the expansion of new routes to serve locations across the country. I do not believe this would be achieved by excluding the private sector. In fact, there are no targets in the Bill for passenger growth at all.
Since the re-privatisation of the railways, demand for rail travel in the UK more than doubled, with a record 1.8 billion rail journeys undertaken in 2018/19 and back to almost that level since the effects of the pandemic have worked through.
Ultimately, we need railways that deliver for passengers, taxpayers, freight and the future of the sector.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Yours sincerely,
