Railways Bill (Eleventh sitting)

Edward Morello Excerpts

Thursday 5th February 2026 Public Bill Committees

New clause 52, in the name of the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell, would require the Secretary of State to undertake a public consultation on the frequency of services, and then to give GBR a duty to supply whatever frequency of service the public consultation demanded. To be effective, a consultation would have to be national and cover every single community in the country. We believe this is a recipe for chaos and shows no concern for deliverability. The Liberal Democrat spokesperson, the hon. Member for Didcot and Wantage, has been very constructive and thoughtful in his proposed amendments during Committee. This one, which is not in his name, is different and, at the risk of sounding slightly cynical—this is perhaps the first time those of us on the Conservative Benches have done so—is a typical have-it-all Lib Dem amendment, with no regard to the practical consequences.

[Edward Morello (West Dorset) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to speak under your chairship, Mr Western. I wanted to speak briefly in support of new clause 52, which, as the hon. Member for South West Devon indicated, was tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell. It would introduce a duty on train frequency, which is something my constituents—and I am sure those of other Members—write about continuously. The new clause would require the Secretary of State to consult the public on how often GBR services should run, taking account of local need. It would then require the publication of a report, ongoing engagement with communities, and a binding duty on GBR to deliver the agreed frequency, with regular monitoring.

The new clause is designed to ensure that rural and less well-served areas are properly heard, and that timetables reflect how people actually use the railway and not just what is easiest to operate. If I were the shadow Minister, I would probably describe this as a probing new clause designed to draw out some secret piece of information. I heard what Minister said about it. All the other Liberal Democrat amendments have been designed to restrain the power of the Secretary of State and ensure that GBR is not micromanaged, and I think the new clause probably flies in the face of that. We will leave it there.

[Keir Mather]

I thank the hon. Members for South West Devon and for West Dorset for their contributions. I remain of the view that a unified system under GBR will plan and deliver an achievable, reliable timetable and ensure that the network is actually able to deliver it, so that the services promised to passengers are delivered. Better co-ordination of the timetable and engineering works will reduce delays, improve reliability and reduce costs, and through its role in issuing the timetable, GBR will be able to ensure that all services represent the best use of the network, with a strong appeals role for the ORR to ensure that fairness is embedded in the system. I therefore retain the view that the hon. Members should not move their amendments.

Amendment 174 agreed to.

Clause 61, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 62 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 63

Capacity duty

Amendment proposed: 81, in clause 63, page 35, line 34, leave out from “to” to the end of line 37 and insert—

“be satisfied that it retains sufficient capacity across GBR infrastructure to allow for—

(a) the operation of GBR passenger services, passenger services not operated by GBR and services for the carriage of goods by railway, and”.—(Rebecca Smith.)

This amendment aims to reduce the ability of GBR to prioritise its own operations where there are network capacity constraints and create a level playing field.

Question put, That the amendment be made.