Govia Thameslink/Rail Electrification

Gavin Shuker Excerpts
Tuesday 3rd July 2018

(5 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Johnson of Marylebone Portrait Joseph Johnson
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The Government are signalling their political commitment to the north of England by spending £13 billion on transport in the north in the years to 2020 and by allocating £2.9 billion to the trans-Pennine route upgrade alone. As I have already said, that represents a third of the entire rail enhancement budget for that five-year period. The trans-Pennine upgrade will be a phased project. It will be a rolling programme of enhancements, including major civil engineering projects and electrification.

Gavin Shuker Portrait Mr Gavin Shuker (Luton South) (Lab/Co-op)
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Customers on Govia Thameslink Railway have only 28 days to submit a claim under delay repay, yet this disruption has gone on for the last 44 days. The amount of time required to submit those claims is extensive. Will the Minister ensure that everyone who has had a valid claim since 20 May receives compensation?

Lord Johnson of Marylebone Portrait Joseph Johnson
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Yes, we are working very carefully with GTR and the rest of the industry to ensure that proper compensation is made available to everybody who has suffered on the most severely affected routes. We have already done so for passengers on Northern and other bits of the north of England. We will make an announcement about compensation for passengers on severely affected GTR routes, Thameslink and Great Northern shortly.