South East Trains Franchise

EDM number 95 in 2004-05, proposed by Clive Efford on 23/11/2004.

That this House recognises the improvement in reliability and punctuality of south east train services since the decision of the Strategic Rail Authority in November 2003 to return the service to public ownership and place the franchise under the management of South East Trains; congratulates South East Trains for its role in improving the performance in reliability and punctuality of both mainline and metro services to October; notes that in comparison with figures for 2003 mainline services were better in 10 of the 12 four week periods and metro services were better in seven and the same in a further two; further notes that several factors have contributed to the improvements in these services including the decision of Network Rail to remove rail repairs from the private sector and the decision of the Government to begin to upgrade the power supply on the southeast network; notes that these improvements are long overdue and that failure to deliver further improvements in the future under the new Integrated Kent Franchise will not be acceptable; further notes that these improvements represent value for money and a much improved service to passengers and calls on the Government to recognise the performance of South East Trains and consider a publicly owned operator as an option for the new franchise to ensure continued improvement and value for money on the United Kingdom's rail network.

This motion has been signed by a total of 70 MPs.