Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, (a) on what dates and (b) by what margins Govia Thameslink Railway has been in breach of the terms of its franchise agreement since the start of that franchise in 2014.
Answered by Claire Perry
Since Rail Industry period 7 in financial year 2015/16 (ending mid October 2015), Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) have exceeded the breach level for the Cancellations benchmark. The Secretary of State issued GTR with a Remedial Plan Notice last year requiring them to set out in a Remedial Plan the measures they will take in order to improve their performance and included remedial plan benchmarks against which GTR are measured for the duration of the Remedial Plan. GTR have not breached the remedial plan cancellations benchmark and are under the breach benchmark for delays and peak short formations.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of trains (a) cancelled and (b) delayed have not seen Govia Thameslink Railway financially penalised in the last three years.
Answered by Claire Perry
Under their Franchise Agreements, an operator is entitled to claim relief from their cancellations benchmark where they can demonstrate that their action was taken in order to recover the service following disruption. Additionally, an operator may also claim relief from cancellations and delay benchmarks for incidents subject to Force Majeure.
Since the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) franchise started in September 2014, no more than 18% of cancellations that GTR were responsible for and which count towards their benchmarks were accepted as Service Recovery or Force Majeure. In that time, 0.6% of delays were accepted as Force Majeure. These delays and cancellations will not count towards the Schedule 7.1 performance regime contained in the Franchise Agreement.
In addition, the Track Access Agreement between Network Rail and Govia Thameslink Railway includes performance regimes in relation to cancellations and delays which result in an incentive or penalty payment depending on who caused the delay or cancellation of the services, and how each organisation is performing against their own benchmark. All trains which are timetabled to operate in passenger service are subject to this performance regime.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the public purse has been of Network Rail paying fines to Govia Thameslink Railway under the Track Access Agreement in the last three years.
Answered by Claire Perry
The available data for the last three years for Network Rail payments to Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) under the Track Access Agreement (TAA) is available at http://www.networkrail.co.uk/transparency/datasets/. This details Schedule 4 payments which relate to agreed disruption caused by planned work; and Schedule 8 payments which relate to non-planned disruption.
The net Schedule 8 payment agreed with individual operators is arrived at through a process of attribution of delays where many factors are taken into consideration and compensation amounts are incurred both ways.
GTR’s provision of services for the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise only began on 14 September 2014, with Southern services included from 26 July 2015, and so will not be included in the 2014/15 figure available at http://www.networkrail.co.uk/transparency/datasets/.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, under what circumstances financial penalties could be levied against Govia Thameslink Railway for (a) punctuality problems and (b) cancellations.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Govia Thameslink Railway Franchise Agreement in Schedule 7.1 sets out the performance benchmarks and financial regime that is in place in relation to cancellations and TOC delay minute regimes. A copy of the Franchise Agreement can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/govia-thameslink
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been paid in fines by Govia Thamelink Railway to his Department to compensate for poor performance in each of the last three years.
Answered by Claire Perry
Govia Thameslink Railway’s (GTR’s) provision of services for the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise only began on 14 September 2014, with Southern services included from 26 July 2015.
There is an incentive/penalty regime in place and this has seen just over £2 million levied against GTR in respect of their Cancellation and Short-Formation performance benchmarks.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been paid in fines by Network Rail to Govia Thamelink Railway to compensate for poor performance in each of the last three years.
Answered by Claire Perry
Govia Thameslink Railway’s (GTR's) provision of services for the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise only began on 14 September 2014, with Southern services included from 26 July 2015.
Network Rail’s performance is regulated by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), who have agreed a £4.1m package of improvements to be delivered by Network Rail on the Southern part of GTR franchise area in order to address performance issues.
There is a compensation and incentive regime element within the Track Access Agreement between Network Rail and each operator, and this is overseen by the ORR.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which hon. Members were notified about (a) discussions between his Department and Govia Thameslink Railway on changes to that company's rail franchises and (b) changes agreed with that company to those franchises.
Answered by Claire Perry
We do not normally notify hon. Members with regard to contract change(s) to Franchise Agreements, as this is business as usual for the Department.
The Remedial Plan prepared in response to the notice issued by the Department for Transport under Section 55 of the Railways Act on 7th July 2015 was published online on the 26 May at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/525767/govia-thameslink-remedial-plan.pdf.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent changes he has agreed to the rail franchise agreement with Govia Thameslink Railway.
Answered by Claire Perry
The latest version of the Franchise Agreement, including all recent changes can be seen online at:
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the punctuality record of Govia Thameslink Railway in the last six months.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department regularly assesses each train operator’s performance, and officials have regular meetings with Govia Thameslink Railway’s senior management where operational performance is reviewed, including punctuality as measured through the Public Performance Measure, and we continue to press the franchisee to see what can be done to improve the service offered to their customers.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he or officials of his Department have had with Govia Thameslink Railway on changes to that company's rail franchise.
Answered by Claire Perry
Officials regularly meet with Govia Thameslink Railway to discuss compliance with the Franchise Agreement and agreed changes to the Franchise Agreement are incorporated into the public register version, the latest version of which can be found at: