Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to immediately take steps to prepare for a publicly-owned organisation to take over the Govia Thameslink Railway franchise on an agreed date; and if he will make a statement.
We have no plans to change the ownership of the railway. Our priority is to improve customer journeys and I am pleased that the quality of passenger services on Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has been significantly better since the New Year, with the Public Performance Measure of punctuality currently at 82%, compared to 62% in early December 2016. The latest National Rail Passenger Survey also showed a 4% increase in overall journey satisfaction on GTR compared with the previous survey. Work is underway delivering on the recommendations of the Chris Gibb report, including £300 million for Network Rail to improve rail infrastructure and resilience along the Southern and Thameslink rail networks, to drive further improvements.