Oral Answers to Questions

Bell Ribeiro-Addy Excerpts

Thursday 26th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Simon Lightwood]

We are almost doubling the amount of money going to local highways maintenance to turn the tide. That is why a massive percentage of the road investment strategy—something like £8.5 billion—is going on repairing and renewing our strategic road network.

[Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Clapham and Brixton Hill) (Lab)]

5. What steps she is taking to improve passenger rail services.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Keir Mather)]

To improve the unreliable services that plagued the rail network under the previous Government, and to improve the experience of using the railway, this Government are bringing services into public ownership and creating Great British Railways. This generational reform is already improving passengers’ experience of rail services, as cancellations are starting to fall after years of decline.

[Bell Ribeiro-Addy]

Inter-city rail fares in England remain eye-watering. London to Birmingham costs £72 on the day, London to Manchester £172 and London to Liverpool £179, but flying the same route can cost as little as £80. In Spain, rail reform drove up passenger numbers by 107% on comparable routes, with tickets as low as €12. The rail fare freeze is welcome, but fares remain unaffordable for many people. The Railways Bill promises powers to regulate fares, so how will the “reasonable” criteria be defined and enforced?

[Keir Mather]

Operational questions relating to how GBR designates fares will be a matter to consider once it has been created, but passenger affordability is a top priority for the Government. That is why, this year, we have taken the historic step of freezing regulated rail fares for the first time in 30 years. Had we not taken that historic decision, regulated rail fares would have increased by 5.8% from March.