Nationalised Passenger Rail Services

Baroness Butler-Sloss Excerpts

Monday 2nd February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)]

The Sunday position, particularly for drivers in a number of train companies, is very difficult. A number of them, after 30-odd years of the previous regime, have no contractual commitment to work on Sundays and volunteer. That is unsatisfactory. In several train companies, negotiations are taking place to incorporate Sundays into the working week.

In the case of Northern, where a dispute about guards has been going on for seven years, Sunday services have never been satisfactory because there are a number of guards in that company who have never been contractually obliged to work Sundays. We have worked extraordinarily hard with the management of Northern, and I hope that will come to a conclusion very shortly.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)]

Just to produce a cheerful note, I can tell the Minister that despite appalling South Western journeys, I travelled a fortnight ago and it was excellent.

[Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)]

I travelled this morning and it was pretty good.