The Public Accounts Committee says it is disappointing that delays suffered on London’s east/west rail scheme are being repeated on other programmes including the Thameslink upgrade and modernisation of the Great Western Railway.

It adds it is worrying that the Department “is not learning lessons” as it embarks on another major scheme: the £2.9Bn Trans-Pennine route upgrade.

The committee calls on the Department to set out within three months how it plans to “systematically capture and learn lessons from programme delivery” so that it “avoids repeating the same mistakes experienced on some programmes again”.

Following major disruption on the railway last year caused by new timetables, strike action and infrastructure problems the committee states that the Department “did not ensure, as it should have done, that those responsible for the railway are clear about their roles and that they work together effectively”. Failure in this regard contributed, it went on, to “major disruption and misery for passengers”.

The committee says it had previously recommended that the Department set contractual incentives to ensure better joint working between Network Rail and train operating companies in future franchises. But it added that the Department had not set out in sufficient detail what it is doing differently when letting new franchise contracts, nor how it is incentivising closer working in contracts already let.

As part of its response to the ongoing rail review, the Department must set out “once and for all” a clear governance and accountability structure for the railway, the committee adds.

The report also claims that the rail industry has been too slow to act to make the railway more accessible for passengers with disabilities. Before this summer, it calls on the Department to set out how it will ensure train operating companies and station operators make sure that passengers with disabilities can use the railway and introduce an enhanced monitoring regime to ensure compliance with the plan.

Public Accounts Committee chair Meg Hillier said that 2018 was “a year from hell for many rail users” and unless the Government improves the situation “there is every chance that passengers will suffer in 2019 as well”.

In response, a Department for Transport spokesman said: “The disruption passengers experienced last summer was unacceptable. The initial findings of the Glaister Report and the lessons learned helped to deliver the December timetable changes.

“The independently chaired root and branch review of our railway is considering all parts of the rail industry to ensure the focus is on putting passengers first. The Government and rail industry are committed to working together to ensure improvements are made.”

(Photograph: Crossrail)