The Network Rail metric for signalling failures indicates there were 2,936 signal failures on the rail system in Great Britain for the period 2023 to 2024. Network Rail does not hold data on how the rate of signal failures compares with other countries.

As part of National Rail Contracts, operators must meet challenging operational targets to earn performance-based fees. If performance falls below a pre-determined level, the Department can intervene to act in passengers’ best interests.

Officials continue to closely monitor and review Avanti West Coast’s (AWC) progress to a sustained recovery, restoring services reliably on the West Coast and delivering good value for the taxpayer. The Department will hold AWC responsible for matters within its control.

To date, AWC has not received operational performance fees related to periods since the commencement of its National Rail Contract on 15 October 2023.

1.37 per cent of Intercity Trains were short formed in period 13 (the most recent rail period). Although more reliable than the trains they replaced, Great Western Railway has more intercity sets out of service than normal due to damage caused by infrastructure issues (such as flooding), the long-term crack repairs programme, and the impact of poor performance on the network. Great Western Railway is working with Hitachi Rail Group to resolve this and senior staff at Great Western Railway meet frequently with Hitachi counterparts to ensure that the necessary fleet numbers are available.

The Office of Rail and Road collects and publishes data on cancellations, reliability and punctuality of all rail operators, including Open Access operators. This is set out in the attached table.

We are continuing to review these proposals, and will respond in due course. They will be covered at the proposed meeting.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is committed to reviewing all aspects of motorcycle training and testing, and is in the process of assessing the Motorcycle Industry Association’s proposals to reform compulsory basic training (CBT).

Regulation (EU) 2019/945 sets out the product standard requirements for uncrewed aircraft systems, which will come into force on the 1 January 2026 (as set out in Regulation (EU) 2019/947).

The CAA recently consulted on product standards and will be providing the department with recommendations on potential regulatory amendments. There are four areas that DfT particularly intend to focus on: remote ID, geo-awareness/fencing, lighting requirements and manufacturer requirements.

The regulatory framework exists and Temporary Reserved Areas (TRAs) are applied for through the Airspace Change Process and are assessed by the regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, which under Section 70 of the Transport Act 2000, has a duty to take a number of factors into account. This includes assessing that a high standard of safety is maintained in the provision of air traffic services; specific guidance on environment objectives contained within the Air Navigation Guidance 2017; and the process allows for consultation with potentially impacted stakeholders to raise concerns such as privacy.

It is within the Action Plan for CAA to start an Uncrewed Traffic Management (UTM) sandbox this year to allows testing in non-segregated airspace environments.

Any recommended performance standards for uncrewed aircraft system testing will need to meet the expectations of the CAA, to ensure that all airspace users meet the necessary safety requirements.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when revenues dropped very significantly, the Government introduced emergency agreements that transferred day-to-day revenue and cost risks to the Department. These agreements protected services that key workers depended on. Under the agreements, the Government effectively receives the revenue and pays an operator’s reasonable costs, subject to the revenue incentive mechanism introduced recently to encourage operators to grow patronage and revenues.

Operators are compensated by the Government for all reasonable costs incurred that are accumulated in accordance with the terms of the contract, including those in relation to Delay Repay.

Payments made to rail passengers for Delay Repay as well as discretionary compensation are published annually, and for 2022-23 totalled £101 million.

The Department recognises that cancellations can be very inconvenient for passengers and prevents them from travelling with confidence. That is why the Department holds train operators to account for cancellations. The type of scrutiny depends on the reasons for these cancellations and the inconvenience to passengers.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) publishes official cancellation statistics on its online Data Portal, which show that the number of services planned to run in Great Britain between 8 January 2023 and 6 January 2024 was 7,012,172. Of these, 336,289 were either fully or partially cancelled. Between 7 January 2024 and 2 March 2024, the number of services planned to run were 1,106,087, of which 47,904 services have been either fully or partially cancelled.

In the period 7 January to 3 February 2024, 66.7% of recorded station stops in Great Britain arrived ‘On Time’ (early or less than one minute after the scheduled time).

The Department monitors performance on the rail network closely and holds industry to account, reviewing performance on a weekly basis and holding regular high-level meetings with both Network Rail and representatives from the train operators.

The Department has been clear that industry needs to make significant improvements to deliver the punctual, reliable services that passengers deserve and in doing so, reduce the need for passengers to claim under the Delay Repay scheme.

Unfortunately, Govia Thameslink Railway services were very heavily disrupted on the morning of 26 February by a number of Network Rail infrastructure incidents across the Sussex area.

Network Rail, which is the organisation responsible for rail infrastructure, continues to work closely with train operators to improve how the industry responds to unplanned disruption. The Department monitors operational performance closely and engages with the rail industry at all levels which includes regular meetings on punctuality and reliability with both Network Rail and representatives from the train operators.

Train operators do not offer compensation to passengers for missed flights and as such there have been no discussions between the Department and airlines on this matter. The Department would urge passengers to use the Delay Repay scheme for compensation on their rail journey and consider other claims using their own travel insurance.

The Department seeks to identify best practice from other countries’ rail networks but is not currently planning a formal comparative assessment.

The latest Common Safety Indicators from the Office of Rail and Road, which were published 15 February 2024, showed that Great Britain ranks favourably compared with other European countries in terms of employee safety, level crossing user safety and trespasser safety.

The Government's approach to improving bus services in England, including those in rural areas, is set out in the National Bus Strategy. We have announced more than £4.5 billion of funding for buses in England outside of London since 2020,
including:

o The recently announced £1 billion of funding redirected from HS2 to deliver better buses across the North and the Midlands as part of Network North;

o Over £1 billion allocated in 2022 to help LTAs deliver their BSIPs;

o £300 million in ongoing funding to support and improve services until April 2025;

o Nearly £600 million to cap single bus fares at £2 from 1 January 2023 until the end of 2024; and

o £2 billion between March 2020 and June 2023 to prevent reductions to bus services following the pandemic.

The Bus Services Act 2017 was accompanied by a suite of regulations to provide Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) outside London with powers to improve local bus services. These included enhanced partnerships (EPs) between bus operators and LTAs, and automatic franchising powers to all Mayoral Combined Authorities. 73 LTAs now have an EP in place and Greater Manchester expect to have a fully franchised bus network by March 2025.

The Bus Services Act 2017 also focused on introducing the Bus Open Data Service (BODS). The BODS was launched in 2020, and requires all bus operators of local services in England to open up high-quality, accurate and up-to-date bus service information including timetables, fares, tickets & vehicle location information.

The Bus Services Act 2017 also amended the Equality Act 2010 to enable the Government to introduce ‘Accessible Information Regulations’ as part of its commitment to creating an inclusive transport system. These regulations were introduced in 2023, which by Autumn 2026 will require the majority of local bus and coach services to incorporate audible and visible announcements as standard.

The Department is conducting a monitoring and evaluation exercise on the impact of the National Bus Strategy. The Bus Transformation Evaluation assesses the delivery and impact of Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs) introduced by the 33 LTAs that received Phase 1 BSIP funding from the Department under the National Bus Strategy. A draft interim report is expected by summer 2024. In addition, the Department is also conducting monitoring and evaluation of the Inclusive Transport Strategy 2018, which includes an assessment of the impact of accessibility requirements introduced under the Bus Services Act 2017 to provide audible and visible information on buses. The Inclusive Transport Strategy: Evaluation Baseline Report was published in January 2022 and the final report is expected to be published later this year.

To ask His Majesty’s Government when they next expect to meet Avanti Trains to discuss payments made to the company under the service quality regime.

My Lords, does the Minister accept that, at a recent internal meeting at Avanti trains, various slides were produced for its management? I have some of them with me at the moment and I shall quote from them. Managers joked about receiving “free money” from the Government and performance-related payments being

“too good to be true”.

The presentation went on to say that the Department for Transport supports the firm and added:

“And here’s the fantastic thing!—if we achieve those figures”—

that is, the Government’s punctuality figures—

“they pay us some more money—which is ours to keep—in the form of a performance-based fee!!”

Does the Minister accept that this is a situation where the Treasury takes the revenue, the passengers take the strain and the directors take a bonus for providing the worst train service in the UK? This is not a policy; it is lunacy.