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Written Question
South Western Railway: Nationalisation
Wednesday 5th August 2026

Asked by: Viscount Camrose (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 8 July (HL1838), what are the specific punctuality, cancellations, and passenger experience metrics which the Department for Transport is using to monitor the performance of South Western Railway following its transfer into public ownership; and to what extent those metrics are being met.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Department monitors Southwestern Railway’s performance through a range of operational measures covering punctuality, cancellations, passenger experience and service quality. The principal operational performance metrics are:

  • Punctuality (Time to 3), measuring the percentage of recorded station stops made within three minutes of the planned time.

  • Reliability (All Stations Cancellations), measuring the percentage of planned station stops cancelled; and

  • Passenger experience, including overall customer satisfaction and satisfaction with disruption handling.

Customer satisfaction metrics are:

  • Service Quality Regime (SQR) measuring the condition, performance, and availability of a range of assets at stations and on trains.

  • Overall Satisfaction and Satisfaction with Disruption Handling using the Voice of Customer survey.

In the latest reporting period, Southwestern Railway did not meet its punctuality or cancellations targets. It also did not meet its customer experience targets for overall satisfaction and satisfaction during disruption. Whilst a number of Service Quality station measures remained below benchmark, performance in all train areas exceeded the benchmark.

Whilst SWR’s performance before and after public ownership has been below standard passengers deserve, particularly with rolling stock issues and driver shortages inherited from the previous owning group, progress is being made under public ownership. Since their transfer to public ownership, SWR have unlocked their Arterio programme, with fifty-two daily service diagrams compared to just six when SWR entered public ownership.

To improve performance, Southwestern Railway and Network Rail's integrated Wessex team are focused on reducing delays and cancellations caused by infrastructure, fleet and operational issues. This includes investment in more reliable infrastructure, deployment of technologies to improve monitoring of track conditions, improvements to service recovery and disruption management through the Major Disruption Taskforce, and delivery of customer information improvements. The Department monitors progress through regular performance reviews and engagement.

Information on punctuality and reliability and improvement activity can be found on the SWR website.