Railway data to be displayed at stations to show passengers how services are working

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has announced that rail performance data will soon be on display at stations, providing passengers with real-time updates on how services are operating.

She stated this transparency would enable the public to "hold us to account" as the Government embarks on a mission to overhaul the railway system, which she claims was "failing its passengers" when they took over. Haigh highlighted some "early signs" of improvement in services such as London North Eastern Railway (LNER), Northern Rail, and TransPennine Express.

However, she cautioned that it will "take time to pass all the benefits on to passengers" after resetting industrial relations.

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Addressing the House of Commons, Haigh did not hold back in criticising the previous Conservative Government for what she described as their role in allowing service cancellations to soar to a "10-year high" and overseeing a period where punctuality was "consistently inconsistent". She pointed out that "Back in 2015 cancellations represented around 2% of all services but thanks to our inheritance of extraordinary failure that doubled to 4% when the last Government left office."

The Government, according to Ms Haigh, is pressing forward with the "biggest overhaul" of the railways seen in over three decades, aiming for better integration between track and train operations. She also mentioned that resolving pay disputes after two years of disruption is crucial for the Government to "move forward with long overdue negotiations on workforce reform, bringing our railways into the 21st century."

Ms Haigh informed MPs: "We are putting passengers first and today I can inform the House that since the resolution of the LNER driver dispute, we have seen green shoots emerging with the number of LNER cancellations falling.

"Not only have cancellations due to a lack of driver resource dropped to near zero as a direct consequence of getting around the table with unions, but revenue is £15m higher for the recent rail periods this year versus the same periods last year, overall cancellations are down from 7% to 5% and LNER are running 100 more train services in the last four weeks than in the comparable period last year.

"Elsewhere, passengers will see a tangible impact on reliability in Northern Rail trains thanks to our agreement on rest day working. Hundreds more driver shifts have been covered this weekend, cutting cancellations now and in the long run.

"At TransPennine Express, operator-caused on-the-day cancellations have averaged around 2% in the last year compared to 5% in the year before they were taken into public ownership. On CrossCountry we took immediate steps to implement a remedial plan to reduce their cancellations and get services back on track. Its reduced timetable has brought greater stability and I expect even greater reliability as the full timetable returns today."

"These are early signs of what happens when a Government gets a grip and puts passengers at the heart of decision-making. Resetting industrial relations is already having a direct impact on better services but it will take time to pass all the benefits on to passengers.

"We have to be clear-eyed about the problems but we are committed to full transparency and I can announce today that we will be fully transparent with passengers by displaying performance data at stations to demonstrate how the railway is working and allow the public to hold us to account as we deliver change."

The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill, which is expected to pass through Parliament in the upcoming weeks, aims to nationalise train operation in Britain. The Bill would ensure that appointing a public sector train operator as existing contracts expire becomes the default position rather than a last resort.

Shadow transport secretary Gareth Bacon acknowledged it's a "fair criticism" that several operators have "consistently underperformed", adding that the Tories had taken action to improve performance. He stated: "It is disappointing that the Government has taken forward its plan for the effective nationalisation of the rail operators through the end of private rail operator franchising despite all of the evidence pointing to the fact that this will be contrary to the aim of improving rail performance."

Mr Bacon criticised the notion that bringing rail operators into public control significantly improves performance, stating: "For example, (Ms Haigh) specifically mentioned delays to the TransPennine Express referencing a decrease in cancellations since the operator was taken into public ownership. But she made no reference to delays."