Grayling must take share of blame for rail chaos, say MPS
CHRIS GRAYLING cannot absolve himself of responsibility for the 2018 rail timetable chaos and should have been “more proactive” before the meltdown, a committee of MPS has said.
The Transport Select Committee said Mr Grayling was at the apex of the system responsible for running the railways and had ultimate authority.
However, the committee said that the Transport Secretary had not been given all the information he needed to stop the roll-out, with the rail industry guilty of “indefensible optimism bias”. The committee called for improved oversight of future timetable changes.
It also wanted a target for “one click” compensation claims to be in place and for season ticket holders worst affected by the chaos to be given discounts.
The report endorsed the findings of the Office of Rail and Road, which concluded in September that no one had taken charge when the changes crippled much of the network in May.
Mr Grayling subsequently announced a “root and branch” review of the railways, which will report in 2019.
The committee’s report comes ahead of the next round of timetable changes this weekend. Although most companies are due to alter services, the number of planned changes has been reduced to avoid a repeat of May.
Mr Grayling said in September that he had been wrong to have accepted at “face value the assurances of the industry” – but absolved himself of blame, saying: “It is tough for any politician to overrule the advice of the professionals.” But the committee said Mr Grayling must accept at least some of the blame for what happened.
“The Secretary of State is responsible for the structure of the system that controls and runs our railways. He is at the apex of this system. Some of the problems caused by timetable changes arose from the structure of the railways. It is therefore not reasonable for the Secretary of State to absolve himself of all responsibility,” it said. “We acknowledge that [he] was not fully informed of serious problems, but he should have been more proactive.”
MPS also criticised the industry for “fundamentally flawed” decision-making. “Network Rail’s infrastructure project teams and the train operating companies were guilty of an indefensible optimism bias,” the report said.
Last week, operators announced rail fares increases of 3.1 per cent in January. The committee urged the Government to “consider all options” to keep fare rises to a minimum in 2019. Robert Nisbet, from the Rail Delivery Group, which represents the railways, said: “We are learning the lessons from the unacceptable disruption in May. This report is an important contribution.”