South Western Railway

Lord Strathcarron Excerpts

Thursday 20th November 2025 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Strathcarron]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the performance of South Western Railway since nationalisation, and whether they have taken account of its performance in their plans to nationalise other railways.

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill) (Lab)]

My Lords, South Western’s performance before and after public ownership has remained below the standards passengers deserve. We inherited from both the previous Government’s management and the previous owners a very serious driver shortage, and 84 out of 90 new trains sitting in sidings, unused but being paid for from the public purse, for several years. Since May, the number of new trains in service has quadrupled and many more drivers are being recruited. It will take time to fix the poor management of the past, but the new managing director and his team will do just that.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Strathcarron (Non-Afl)]

I thank the Minister for his reply, and I agree that this has been a disaster for years. However, passenger groups report that since nationalisation, South Western has suffered a 50% increase in cancellations—it is even worse on Monday mornings and Friday afternoons—and delay minutes per hundred miles have risen by 29%. Rakes have often been halved, leaving passengers standing for whole journeys. Meanwhile, if we can understand them, we see that fares have risen faster than inflation. Would the Minister join me on a weekday morning and pay £49 to stand for one hour in a train from Winchester to Waterloo, and see for himself the results of nationalisation before it starts to affect us all?

[Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)]

I do not need to join the noble Lord on his service, because I am on my own, from Richmond to Vauxhall. It is true that there are some short forms—the result of both the driver shortage and the failure to put the new trains into service. Those are linked, because it is clear that the previous management did not choose to put the trains into service because they would have had to train the drivers. There are 780 drivers to be trained on those trains, and getting them into service means withdrawing 20, 30 or 40 of them from what they do normally. Meanwhile, the trains that are used are falling to pieces. Those are the old red ones, as anybody who has travelled on them will know, and they are best used in their last journey to the scrapyard in Newport, South Wales. They will be gone by December. It takes time to fix things. They were not being fixed under the previous regime, and they are now.