Ros in the Lords: Written Answers (5 July 2010)

It seems that both Ros and I have an interest in holding National Express East Anglia's feet to the fire whilst they work out their severance period...

Railways: Franchises

Question

Asked by Baroness Scott of Needham Market

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Minister of State for Transport, Theresa Villiers, on 17 June (Official Report, Commons, col. 58WS) that the procurement timetable for the new Greater Anglia rail franchise is to be revised, what arrangements are in place to ensure that the performance of National Express East Anglia is acceptable.

Earl Attlee: Current contractual provisions in relation to performance on the National Express East Anglia franchise will remain in place and will be fully enforced by Department for Transport officials. These include benchmarks for punctuality, reliability, capacity and cancellations which, if contravened, can result in enforcement action.

Railways: National Express

Question

Asked by Baroness Scott of Needham Market

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps will be taken to secure an improvement in passenger satisfaction with National Express East Anglia during the period of its extended franchise.

Earl Attlee: Current contractual provisions will continue to apply to the National Express East Anglia franchise and will be rigorously enforced by Department for Transport officials. Although there are no specific passenger satisfaction targets in the contract, there is a service quality regime which attracts incentive or penalty payments for train and station quality standards.