Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government for each of the past five years, how much money has been spent by Network Rail on footpaths and roads next to railway lines for use by rail staff and workers, and how many miles have been completed.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail does not have a complete inventory of constructed pathways on its infrastructure. Network Rail is looking to tender a piece of work to use satellite imagery to identify the constructed pathways adjacent to the running railway.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many signal failures there were on the rail system in the last year for which data are available; and how the rate of failure in the UK compares with rail systems in other leading countries.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Network Rail metric for signalling failures indicates there were 2,936 signal failures on the rail system in Great Britain for the period 2023 to 2024. Network Rail does not hold data on how the rate of signal failures compares with other countries.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Minister without Portfolio's article of 12 May 2024 in The Sunday Telegraph, when the DVLA is expected to terminate its contract with Political Engagement Ltd., procurement reference 430567/1349023; and whether a notice period is required under the provisions of clause 11.3 of that contract.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No monies have been paid under this contract, which is a call-off contract for conference attendance. It can be cancelled at 90 days notice.
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: Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to launch the "local transport alternatives" to HS2 in England.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has made substantial progress on delivering new local transport investments, a core commitment of the Network North Command Paper. The £4.7bn Local Transport Fund and allocations by local authority was announced on 26 February 2024 and the £8.3bn uplifts for Highways Maintenance was announced on 17 November 2023, with local authorities now actively delivering on this record investment.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the reason for removing the roof at Crewe Station and when they expect it to be reroofed, if at all.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The canopies and main trainshed roof have limited asset remaining life and Network Rail expects replacement work to be complete by 2029. The Government has provided £44.1 billion to Network Rail for renewals work during this Control Period (2024-29) which will be used to fund the work.
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.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps his Department has taken to tackle modern slavery in the maritime industry.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
While onboard for surveys and inspections, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) inspectors assess the working and living conditions for crew including, but not limited to, employment agreements, payment of wages and standards of accommodation. These inspections implement the standards of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, and the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No.188), that came into force in 2013 and 2019, respectively.
Inspectors also interview crew while they are onboard during merchant and fishing vessel inspections and surveys, offering a confidential space for concerns to be raised. If there is any evidence of modern slavery, the matter is followed up and information is also forwarded to HMRC or local police for further investigation, as needed.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his timeline is for reviewing the business case for strengthening works on Hammersmith Bridge.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Given the complexity of the Strengthening works and the rising projected costs, Ministers are considering next steps and will make a final decision on the business case in due course.
In the meantime, my Department is continuing to work productively with both the Borough and Transport for London to ensure the eventual reopening of Hammersmith Bridge to all users, subject to cost.
The Government recognises the frustration Londoners feel due to the ongoing closure of Hammersmith Bridge, which is why we’ve provided almost £13m towards repairing and stabilising the structure, and recently announced almost £3m for a new temporary cycle way.