Bexhill and Battle MP, Huw Merriman, grilled outgoing GTR Chief Executive, Charles Horton, and Network Rail senior managers on the recent timetable failures at a Transport Select Committee meeting on Monday.

As a member of the Transport Select Committee, Huw was determined to establish whether one organisation was most at fault when the biggest ever railway timetable change was introduced on 20 May this year. The timetable, which should have seen an increase in the number of services and capacity, resulted in delays and cancellations impacting for local commuters and rail travellers across the country.  Huw also sought reassurance that these problems would not reoccur when the December 2018 timetable changes were introduced.

GTR and Network Rail representatives told the Select Committee that all industry parties have a part to play in the development of the timetable. In addition, an industry readiness board was looking at the readiness of the industry to make this major change and an assurance panel were looking at the detail of the arrangements in the companies to make this changes happen.   The ultimate accountability for producing the timetable lay with Network Rail but they could not do this without other parties playing their part in making sure that the timetable was delivered. From a southeast route perspective, Network rail and the route were part of the collective problem.

Huw then asked how the rail industry would collectively ensure that the problems incurred by the May timetable changes would not be repeated again in December when another timetable is scheduled to be introduced.  Network rail responded that they had already written to rail operators to ask them to reconsider their plans for December in light of what happened in May. They have also established a team looking at cross-industry readiness following the May experience which would inform conversations with the Department of Transport about the December proposals.

Following the meeting Huw said “Although the timetable changes appear to have been successfully introduced in the constituency, resulting in an additional hourly service for Bexhill, the timetable changes in May caused huge problems for commuters across a wide part of our rail network.  I wanted to ensure that, in my role as a member of the Transport Select Committee, we got honest and open answers from the industry professionals as to why it went so wrong and where the fault lay.  It is important that all parts of the rail industry acknowledge their individual and collective failings and fully understand why the process failed to ensure that this situation is never repeated.  The government is investing a huge amount into improving our rail network to increase capacity and resilience. We rely on our industry experts to implement the changes in a way that clearly benefit passengers and instil confidence in our railways. I sincerely hope that lessons have been learnt.”