Laid - 16 May 2024 In Force Not stated
These Regulations are made under sections 12(1), 13(2) and (3), 14(1), (2), (4)(b), (c) and (e) and (7) and 20(1) of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (c. 28) (“the 2023 Act”) and section 31(1) of the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 (c. 29). These Regulations …
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any correlation between (1) Avanti trains being awarded a performance bonus, and (2) subsequent train cancellations by Avanti.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As part of National Rail Contracts, operators must meet challenging operational targets to earn performance-based fees. If performance falls below a pre-determined level, the Department can intervene to act in passengers’ best interests.
Officials continue to closely monitor and review Avanti West Coast’s (AWC) progress to a sustained recovery, restoring services reliably on the West Coast and delivering good value for the taxpayer. The Department will hold AWC responsible for matters within its control.
To date, AWC has not received operational performance fees related to periods since the commencement of its National Rail Contract on 15 October 2023.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether speed limits apply only to mechanically operated vehicles and not to cyclists; and if so, what plans they have to review this.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
While speed limits set under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 only apply to motor vehicles, cyclists can still be charged with careless or dangerous cycling offences depending on the circumstances.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help simplify the rail ticketing system.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Plan for Rail proposes the biggest shake-up of rail in a generation. We have already made progress on fares and ticketing reforms, for example introducing flexible season tickets, expanding single leg pricing to most of London North Eastern Railway’s (LNER) network and committing to Pay As You Go (PAYG) in urban areas across the country.
In February we announced that PAYG pilots in both Manchester and the West Midlands are due to be launched in 2025, expanding pay as you go to an additional 92 rail stations. We will also be extending contactless PAYG ticketing to 53 additional stations in the South East.
In addition, on 16 January this year, LNER began selling tickets for its two year long “Simpler Fares” pilot, for travel from 5 February. This pilot involves removing the old off-peak which led to some very quiet “peak” and very busy “off-peak” services, simplifying the fares and ticketing system to smooth out demand and reduce crowding, making travel more comfortable for passengers.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the number of train cancellations in Q3 of 2023-24.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Performance varies across the network and is dependent on both reliable infrastructure and strong operator performance. Where we have both, as on Anglia, passengers enjoy great performance and I’m clear this is the standard for all operators to achieve working with their Network Rail route counterparts. I regularly meet Network Rail and train operators to encourage greater collaboration on day-to-day performance including convening a rail industry summit in March.
Reforming and modernising the railway is essential to delivering a more reliable rail network that is financially sustainable and improves the experience for passengers. Outdated working practices, like relying on voluntary overtime to run trains every day of the week, increases the likelihood of cancellations and prevents passengers getting the service they pay for and deserve.
Asked by: Baroness Grey-Thompson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government (1) how many, and (2) what proportion, of disabled people who travelled by train over the past 12 months used assistance (a) with, and (b) without, pre-booking.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We do not hold data on the number and proportion of disabled people travelling by train over the past year who used assistance, with and without, pre-booking. Official statistics for booked assistance numbers published by the Office of Rail and Road are currently unavailable whilst data quality issues with the supplier are resolved. The Office of Rail and Road aim to publish the latest available full year and historic data for booked assistance in July.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Hitachi on its Newton Aycliffe plant.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
My Department has met Hitachi Rail’s UK management team several times in recent months to discuss workload at the company’s Newton Aycliffe site. We remain keen to discuss options with Hitachi as it seeks to secure a sustainable long-term future for its site.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make his policy to reinstate a hard shoulder on all smart motorways.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 16 April 2023, the Government announced that all plans for new smart motorways have been cancelled, recognising the lack of confidence felt by drivers and cost pressures. This means no new smart motorways will be built.
We are focused on investing £900m to add further safety improvements to existing smart motorways, including constructing over 150 extra emergency areas – so that people can continue to get around easily and with increased confidence.
Restoring the hard shoulder while maintaining capacity would be hugely disruptive, both for road users and local communities, and come at a significant financial cost, and a potential impact on the overall safety of the road network.
Any reduction in capacity on our Strategic Road Network could put more drivers and passengers at risk of death or serious injury by forcing them on to less safe local roads.