Government failing to deliver on transport says May
The Shadow Transport Secretary has said that Wednesday’s results from Network Rail show the Government is not delivering on its transport policies.
Network Rail has announced operational losses of £758 million, compared to last year’s operating profit of £80 million
However the company claims that “of this nearly three-quarters (£544m) is attributable to a change in the phasing of network grant income from the Strategic Rail Authority.”
It also highlights a reduction of £1.3 billion in net debt levels and seven per cent reduction in delays.
This however misses the punctuality target of a ten per cent improvement.
Commenting on the results Theresa May said: “The cost of delivering rail services has increased three fold under Labour and despite their promises of better railways, they are still unable to deliver.
“Passengers have been let down – that they are not getting any return for their hard earned cash being spent on the railways.”
“The structures put in place by the Government are still failing to deliver improvements in service and at this rate, passengers face the prospect of failing services for many, many years to come.”
Liberal Democrat transport spokesman John Thurso said that the Government should now think seriously about the structure of the UK’s railways.
Mr Thurso, said: “The losses announced today come as no surprise and are within the parameters expected.
“However, Network Rail is a not-for-profit company, funded by the taxpayer and effectively owned by the nation. It is legitimate to ask whether
not-for-profit is still the appropriate structure.
“I hope that Alistair Darling will be considering this, amongst other changes, in his forthcoming rail review.”
Network Rail chairman Ian McAllister defended the results, saying: “Last year was one of substantial progress. Significant strides were taken towards delivering Network Rail’s vision of the safe, reliable and efficient railway everyone wishes to see.
“The reduction in Network Rail delay minutes is one of the year’s most important achievements. The 7% reduction in delay minutes compared to the previous year means they now stand at their lowest level for four years. This very welcome performance improvement is something for the Company to continue to build upon in the year to come.
Chief executive John Armitt added: “When Network Rail was created, the twin priorities were clear – to improve train performance and get a grip on costs which had increased substantially over the previous few years. I am pleased to report good progress on cost control.”
All Network Rail employees are to receive bonuses this year, with the directors receiving 24 per cent of their basic salary.
This amounts to £112,320 extra for John Armitt.
A spokeswoman for the Rail Passengers Council told politics.co.uk that whilst they welcomed the improvements “performance is still below acceptable levels.”
Commenting on the award of bonuses she said that passengers will be “a bit miffed” at the news when they still have no certainty about service levels.
