Railways Bill
Lord Sentamu Excerpts(2 weeks ago)
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Baroness Dacres of Lewisham (Lab)
My Lords, following on from my noble friend’s point, can my noble friend the Minister confirm that any Member of this House can attend Grand Committee, and that it is recorded and can be watched back?
Lord Sentamu (CB)
My Lords, I sat through the Second Reading of this Bill. At the first debate, 30 people spoke and then a whole raft of amendments were put down by the noble Lords, Lord Hunt of Wirral and Lord Sharpe of Epsom, and the noble Lord, Lord Fox, from the Liberal Democrat Front Bench.
The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Smith of Basildon) (Lab)
To help the noble and right reverend Lord, we are discussing the Railways Bill commitment Motion.
Lord Sentamu
What I want to say is that the numbers towards the end of that Bill were not as big as people suggest. Look in Hansard; the numbers were less.
The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill) (Lab)
My Lords, what a joy it is to hear from three former Transport Secretaries whom I have worked for. I predict hearing from a former deputy chair of Transport for London whom I have worked for shortly as well.
I know, as many do in this Chamber, that passengers and taxpayers have had enough of the current failed system. Change to our railways cannot come soon enough. I want to get on with fixing the railways by starting the scrutiny of this Bill as soon as possible. Divisions such as this simply delay the job that we are all here to do. It is perfectly normal for Bills to be committed to Grand Committee. A significant number of Bills, many of which propose significant legislative change, are committed to Grand Committee each Session. In the last Session of the previous Government, much important legislation was scrutinised in that way.
As my noble friends have confirmed, Grand Committee is not a lower standard of scrutiny. Any noble Lord can participate and proceedings are broadcast, as my noble friend just said. Its use means that the House’s time can be managed more effectively. It does not hinder, curtail or prevent detailed scrutiny of legislation. The Bill will return to the Chamber on Report.
Railways Bill
Lord Sentamu ExcerptsTuesday 7th July 2026
(2 weeks, 6 days ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Railways Bill 2024-26 View all Railways Bill 2024-26 Debates Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts Amendment Paper: Consideration of Bill Amendments as at 10 June - large print - (10 Jun 2026)
Lord Sentamu (CB)
My Lords, we all say to the noble Lord, Lord Wilson of Dinton, on his valedictory speech: thank you for lifting our spirits. We will miss you. It is good to follow the noble Lord, Lord Doyle, and all 26 noble Lords who have spoken. Some of them have stolen my words so it is no good me repeating them.
In my contribution to the Second Reading of this very important Bill, I begin by recalling an event at York station on 23 April 2017. It involved four generations of trains on the same track—the east coast main line—at the same time, travelling in the same direction, celebrating the past, the future and the present. A total of five trains took part in the historic Four Trains event. The occasion was also a celebration of the east coast main line, where four of the trains travelled side by side.
The four trains featured in the line-up included the “Flying Scotsman”, the iconic steam locomotive; the Virgin Trains East Coast Class 43 HST—that is, high speed train; the InterCity 125, nicknamed the 125 because of its top operational speed of 125 mph; and the InterCity 225 Class 91, designed for a maximum speed of 140 mph but, due to British railway signalling regulations, its operational top speed is restricted to 125 mph in regular service. Still, during testing it achieved a record speed of 162 mph—what a pity. Then there was the Hitachi Azuma Class 800, which had yet to come into service but was to do so in 12 months. Its operating speed is 125 mph. On sections equipped with in-cab European train control systems signalling, it is capable of reaching 140 mph.
Having arrived early, we saw the Class 55 Deltic D9002 “King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry” being used to haul the “Flying Scotsman” into position before all four trains were lined up alongside each other. I suggest that that historic event should remind us, as we consider this Bill, to celebrate the past, present and future of our railways. To move forward demands that we know where we are coming from but not to be enslaved by the past. There should not just be grumbles; there must be some elements of celebration of the amazing engineering that created trains in this country.
The passengers, customers and workers held a clear and firm view that the best period for the east coast main line was when it was under GNER, Great North Eastern Railway, between 1996 and 2007. The leadership and management of its chief executive, Christopher Garnett, brother of the noble Baroness, Lady Bottomley, was head and shoulders above that of anyone before or since. As with all enterprises, if we have the right leader at the top, all is possible, and that is not linked to ownership. As the noble Baroness, Lady Leaman, ably reminded us, success will not be purely the structures we have created by this Bill but the results in terms of the satisfaction of passengers and customers. As a Yorkshire farmer said to me, “I plant grass for my dairy cattle, and I only know that the grass is good when I see the smile on the face of a cow”. May we in what we are doing create a similar reality.
I wholeheartedly endorse Clause 3 in Chapter 1 of Part 1, which sets out the seven functions of Great British Railways. I declare an interest as a regular user of trains in London and on the east coast main line, even when on one occasion the train I was on was delayed by 666 minutes. Yes, they could do better. All our trains could do better. That is what this Bill is about.
May this Bill do what Christopher Garnett did. I know that British passengers and customers have the capacity to put up with what is intolerable. Let us improve the Bill to become a clarion call to our trains, saying, “Enough is enough. We want you to be the change we want to see”, but this will depend largely on finding leaders whose actions will inspire others to dream more, to learn more, to do more and to become more—nudging everyone towards that horizon of hope.
Will the Minister assure your Lordships’ House that this Bill will give him the tools he needs to bring about the change he knows in his heart must happen? I say to the noble Lord, Lord Hendy, “You have what it takes. Please do it.” Politicians may not want to go all the way to where they should go, but they can pave the way to do it and be like the English football team. I want to say, “Come on, Lord Hendy!”
It is a delight to speak in this debate, and I wish it great success. There is no holding back, because this is a critical time for us to be the greatest people who run trains, unlike those who have just followed us.
Railways: East Coast Main Line
Lord Sentamu Excerpts(5 years ago)
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Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con) [V]
My Lords, my noble and learned friend knows that there are daily services at the moment between Inverness and King’s Cross, and I reassure him that they will and are proposed to remain in operation under the May 2022 proposals.
Lord Sentamu (CB)
My Lords, I declare an interest, in that I live a mile and a half from Berwick station. Most of us find these cuts to be stringent in terms of the daytime service, going from a train every hour to a slower train every two hours. Locals are shocked, as are businesses, tourism and residents—and I am one of them. Knowing that it is good to use the train instead of our cars because of the environment, how can we have confidence that these services, which are being so slashed, will be there for us to use them? Will the Government really look carefully at what is proposed and, since this is a public utility, will they as guardians protect it? I just hope that this is not the beginning of the resurrection of the spirit of Richard Beeching.
Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con) [V]
I welcome the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Sentamu, back to your Lordships’ House. In doing so, I recognise the concerns that he has raised about Berwick-upon-Tweed. I am sure that he will join many other people in responding to the consultation. It is true that we have had to make difficult trade-offs within the timetabling options, given the capacity available, but we are trying to maximise the benefit of the £4 billion that we have invested in infrastructure and rolling stock. The proposals on the table now actually increase revenues by £60 million a year, so we feel that we are getting good return on taxpayers’ funding.