Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Covid-19: Support for the Rail Industry

Thursday 28 January 2021 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Department for Transport provided 10.1 billion to support passenger rail services in England during the COVID-19 outbreak.
  • Sir David Amess raised concerns about reduced services on Greater Anglia and c2c lines, citing issues with social distancing.
  • The Minister assured that sufficient funding is in place to ensure essential workers can travel during the crisis.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 David Amess Con
Economy Transport
Context

The MP questioned the level of financial assistance provided to the rail industry amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Question

What financial support his Department is providing to the rail industry during the covid-19 outbreak?

Answer from Grant Shapps

The 2020 spending review provided a total of £10.1 billion of confirmed funding for the Department for Transport to support passenger rail services in England during the covid outbreak.

Answered
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Q2 David Amess Con
Transport
Context

The MP raised concerns over significant service reductions on rail lines such as Greater Anglia and c2c, with constituents reporting difficulty in maintaining social distancing. He sought assurance that adequate funding is being allocated to ensure safe operations.

Question

The service on both the Greater Anglia and c2c lines has been significantly cut during the latest lockdowns. Many constituents have contacted me to tell me that social distancing is near impossible on the few trains that are being run. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that enough money is being given to allow train operators to run a safe service?

Answer from Grant Shapps

My hon. Friend from nearly the city of Southend is absolutely right to mention the importance of keeping the right level of trains running. I mentioned that we funded £10.1 billion—an unprecedented amount—to keep these trains running during the covid crisis to make sure that essential workers can get to work. Of course people should not be travelling to work unless they cannot do that work from home. He will be interested to know that there have been discussions with Build UK and the Construction Leadership Council, particularly on that c2c line and concern about those trains coming into Canning Town. We will keep a close eye on this, and I have asked Sir Peter Hendy, the chair of Network Rail, to also work to ensure that we are alerted as soon as there are any signs of congestion and make sure that these lines can operate safely.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific assurance regarding sufficient funding for safe operations during lockdowns was not directly addressed; focus on general discussions and future monitoring efforts without concrete financial commitments.

How: Working With Partners, Under Review

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