Rail boss: our trains are envy of Europe
A RAIL director has been accused of “living on another planet” after claiming that Britain’s railways were an example to Western Europe.
Robert Nisbet, regional director of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train firms, said that other EU nations could “only dream” of having the UK’S levels of punctuality and efficiency.
Mr Nisbet conceded that passengers had faced “frankly appalling” levels of service, but went on to defend the performance of the railways.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday: “We’re a hugely successful railway in many ways – much more so than many countries in Western Europe who would only dream about having our kind of performance and punctuality.”
He continued: “A lot of us get on those gleaming fast trains that go from city to city in France and Spain and Italy, but a lot of their suburban commuter lines are terribly inefficient. They have suffered for years with a lack of investment.”
The Rail Delivery Group confirmed yesterday that Mr Nisbet’s comments were based on a European Commission passenger satisfaction survey from 2013, which did not capture recent disruption or strikes on Southern Rail. More recent figures from the National Rail Passenger Survey in January found that more than half of passengers thought trains were not good value for money. A similar number said they were unhappy with how delays were handled. Figures in 2017 showed that passenger satisfaction was at its lowest level in a decade.
Mr Nisbet last night issued an apology after The Daily Telegraph contacted the Rail Delivery Group.
He said: “I am sorry as clearly my comments do not reflect the recent experience of some of our customers as I fully understand how frustrating recent disruption in parts of the country has been for people.”
Meanwhile, passengers on Northern Rail faced more chaos yesterday as the company attempted to reinstate services that were removed to cope with the timetabling crisis.
Passengers took to social media to complain after a fifth of services were delayed or cancelled amid calls for Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, to resign.
Theresa May’s spokesman insisted the Transport Secretary retained the full confidence of the Prime Minister.
There have been months of delays and cancellations on commuter routes across the country after the chaotic introduction of new timetables.
Anthony Smith, chief executive of the watchdog Transport Focus, said of Mr Nisbet’s remarks: “If you’re waiting for a cancelled or late train, comments like this are no help whatsoever. You have paid for the service promised through the timetable and it should be
delivered. Passengers’ lives have been upside down. I don’t think his comments are useful.”
Grant Shapps, the former chairman of the Conservative Party who has seen his constituents suffer from delays and cancellations in Welwyn Hatfield, Herts, criticised the rail industry.
He said: “Those using the railways over the last few months have suspected rail bosses are out of touch. Now it’s been proven in spectacular style by absurd, crass and insensitive comments by the rail companies’ own spokesman.
“They clearly need to spend more time travelling on their trains rather than sitting in ivory towers.”
Bim Afolami, the Conservative MP for Hitchin and Harpenden, said: “You would have to be on a different planet to think that the current performance of our railways is anything acceptable.”
Mrs May was yesterday urged to step in personally to end the disruption in the North. Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, said there were no signs of improvement in services as he urged Mr Grayling to resign.
He said: “If he had been doing his job commuters wouldn’t be putting up with the daily lottery of not knowing whether they are going to arrive at work on time.
“This isn’t a new problem, the chaos goes back a long way, there is no sign of it ending. Where has he been? Why hasn’t he been dealing with that?”
A Whitehall source yesterday said Mr Grayling was not on holiday and would be back at his desk today but gave no details of his whereabouts.
Northern Rail was yesterday due to reinstate 75 per cent of routes withdrawn after a new timetable caused severe disruption in May.
But angry commuters were once again left bemoaning cancelled or late services across Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire and Yorkshire.
A report by the Northern Powerhouse Partnership revealed that businesses had lost almost £38 million because of Northern Rail disruption.