Great Western Railway: Overcrowding
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact on safety from overcrowding on Great Western Railway services, including where planned rolling stock capacity is reduced due to engineering works overrunning; and what steps her Department is taking to address those risks before Great Western Railway enters public ownership, including through its contractual and oversight arrangements.
Answered by Keir Mather
Great Western Railway (GWR) is responsible for the safe operation of its train services at all times, including during times of disruption or following engineering overrun. GWR is also responsible for ensuring deployment of its train fleet to best match demand, but despite this trains can still become very busy at certain peak times or during disruption. Whilst crowded trains can be uncomfortable, they are not necessarily unsafe.
The Department monitors train loadings carefully and continues to hold GWR to account against its contractual obligations as the Public Ownership Programme continues. This includes ensuring GWR is appropriately deploying its train fleet and working collaboratively with Network Rail to develop robust plans to support engineering work including mitigations plans for restoring service in the event of an overrun.
GWR has experienced an increase in short formations on services across its intercity train fleet in recent periods due to issues with diesel engines. These issues have now stabilised, with a noticeable reduction in recent weeks, and the department continues to monitor this closely.
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