The New Rail Franchise

Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 2:04 pm on 24 October 2018.

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Photo of Ken Skates Ken Skates Labour 2:04, 24 October 2018

I think the Member raises a very important point, and it's important because, in the recent franchise arrangements, there were very few metrics by which we were able to test the performance of the operator. In this franchise agreement, a key measure will of course be whether or not passenger numbers are increasing, but we'll also be looking at operational performance, which includes more passenger-focused measures of passenger time lost. It's going to take into consideration the punctuality of services throughout the journey, rather than just at the final destination, as was the case with the previous contract. We'll also be looking at the percentage of stops missed. That will be constantly monitored. We're also going to be looking at short formations. There are more stringent measures for trains being shorter compared with their usual formation and for the number of skipped stations. It's also worth my pointing out that a service quality regime is being implemented that requires both trains and stations to meet a variety of passenger-based standards at regular inspections. And, of course, we will also be utilising the national rail passenger survey as well as regular customer satisfaction surveys, and mystery shopping surveys will also be undertaken. The monitoring of the performance of the ODP will take place on a constant basis. If the performance falls short of the levels expected and agreed to, we will enter into a remedy situation. That remedy situation could see the payment of subsidy to the operator and development partner reduced or stopped.