Rail Disruption: Social and Economic Impacts

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Thursday 13th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

It is very tricky to make a detailed assessment of the reduction in revenue, given where we are at the moment and the fact that GWR operates a turn-up-and-go service, so numbers are very difficult to estimate. We estimate that, from an LNER perspective, it is probably a reduction of 1,000 passengers a day, but, as noble Lords will know, this is a fast-moving situation, these cracks were found on only Friday night and Saturday morning and, obviously, much more work needs to be done on the impact in the medium term.

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

I also declare an interest as a regular user of the east coast main line. I press my noble friend—because I understand that the department played a large part in designing the Azuma train—to address the part of the question asked by the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, about whether Hitachi will make good the damage, which is a very serious structural concern? Can she also assure the House today that the Government will review where the carriages will be sourced for the HS2 project?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

I am not sure that I can give my noble friend all the assurances that she seeks on this matter. In general, Hitachi has a very strong track record in this area. The Department for Transport is not in the business of designing the details of trains—but if there is more information in this area, I will certainly get back to her. I reassure noble Lords that the removal of all these trains was carried out because safety is our highest priority; we are taking a very cautious approach to getting these units back on the tracks. However, we believe that we can do so safely and that we can undertake a medium-term forward repair plan to return them to 100% health.