Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2023 to Question 5623 on Elizabeth Line and Southeastern: Repairs and Maintenance, what progress the cross Whitehall task force has made on (a) mitigations against redundancies and (b) bringing forward (i) existing refurbishment and (ii) new contracts for (A) Southeastern Rail and (B) Elizabeth Line trains.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Ministers and officials have held intensive discussions over several months with rolling stock manufacturers to explore options to help them find viable and sustainable long-term solutions around their rolling stock capabilities. In January of this year, I published a pipeline of opportunities which I would expect all manufacturers to bid for; however, there is no guarantee on who will win these.
In March 2024, Alstom was successfully awarded a contract for the refurbishment of the CrossCountry Voyager fleet that will support UK suppliers and skilled jobs across the country.
Officials in collaboration with the operator continue to work at pace on publishing the Invitation to Negotiate for the Southeastern procurement.
The Secretary of State has met with Alstom to discuss a potential way forward regarding the Elizabeth Line fleet and a statement will be made at the appropriate time.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department holds information on the number and proportion of school crossing guards who wear body cameras while on duty.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This information is not held by the Department.
Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of the new rail capacity created by the East Coast Main Line upgrade works will be allocated to open access rail services.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport does not specify the allocation of increased capacity. However, open access operators may apply to utilise available capacity alongside operators contracted by Government. It will then be a matter for Network Rail and the Office of Rail and Road to decide through the established systems and processes how capacity should ultimately be allocated.
Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support from the public purse the London and North Eastern Railway has received to maintain (a) existing railway operations and (b) timetable commitments in 2023-24.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As reported in their annual statement of accounts, London North Eastern Railway received £96 million in subsidy from the Department for Transport for the year 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.
Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of East Coast Main Line intercity passenger services are delivered by open access operators.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Network Rail have confirmed that within the current timetable, published in December 2023, 8.92% of East Coast Main Line intercity passenger services are delivered by Open Access operators.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Hitachi on the job security of the staff at its rail plant in Newton Aycliffe.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Hitachi is not currently consulting on any workforce changes at its train manufacturing site in Newton Aycliffe. Ministers and officials in my Department have met Hitachi Rail’s UK management team several times in recent months and have had several exchanges of correspondence to discuss workload and job security at the company’s Newton Aycliffe site.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations they have received from (a) Hitachi and (b) Alstom on their redundancy consultations.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
My Department has been in intensive discussion with Alstom since the company announced a consultation on potential redundancies at its train manufacturing site in Derby in November 2023. Hitachi is not currently consulting on redundancies at its train manufacturing site in Newton Aycliffe, but 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.
Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of GB intercity rail passenger services are delivered by open access operators.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Network Rail have confirmed that within the current timetable, published in December 2023, 7.16% of intercity passenger services across Great Britain are delivered by Open Access operators.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Written Statement of 4 April 2019 on Access for All, HCWS1484, for what reason work to provide step-free access at Mill Hill Broadway has not yet started.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
There are many technical issues to overcome at this station, given it is located on the Midland Main Line and adjacent to the M1 motorway, all of which are currently under consideration.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2024 to Question 18584 on High Speed 2 Line, when he plans to publish the phase one updated business case.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Work is continuing on an updated Business Case for the HS2 programme. This update will be completed as soon as possible.