Suburban rail services should be devolved to TfL – Assembly

Railways are important to Londoners, particularly in outer London where there is more of a reliance on suburban rail services.

The London Assembly is disappointed that little progress has been made by the Government in improving the reliability, accessibility and simplicity of the railways, since the publication of the Williams-Shapps Report in May 2021.

Because of this, it is today reiterating its call for suburban rail services in London to be devolved to Transport for London (TfL) and calls on the Government to publish a timetable for the implementation of the Williams Shapps Plan for Rail.

Elly Baker AM, who proposed the motion said:

“Londoners who rely on suburban rail deserve better service. Poor performance from train operating companies has led to countless delays and unreliability, and even the dangerous scenes recently witnessed at London Bridge Station with extreme overcrowding.

“Despite this poor performance, train operating companies continue to receive billions from the Government. The Government produced a Plan for Rail in May 2021, but a detailed plan of how they intend to improve reliability, accessibility and a simpler ticket structure have still not been published, while services continue to decline.

“It’s time to devolve these services to Transport for London to provide a fully integrated and reliable service for Londoners, as part of the move to Great British Railways.”

The full text of the motion is:

This Assembly notes the importance of railways to Londoners, especially in outer London who rely on suburban rail services.

This Assembly notes that Londoners who rely on these services have been receiving a substandard service, recently leading to overcrowding at stations such as London Bridge. Despite this poor performance, the train operating companies have received £14.5 billion of operational payments from the Government as well as £209 million of performance related payments.

This Assembly is disappointed that little progress has been made by the Government in improving the reliability, accessibility and simplicity of the railways, since publication of the Williams-Shapps Report in May 2021.

This Assembly reiterates its long-standing call for suburban rail services in London to be devolved to Transport for London as part of the move to Great British Railways and provide a truly integrated, reliable and affordable rail network for Londoners.

This Assembly also calls on the Government to publish a timetable for the implementation of the Williams Shapps Plan for Rail and provide a date for when the Whole Industry Strategic Plan, the Rail Freight Strategy and the Accessibility Strategy will be published by the Great British Railways Transition Team.