Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the assessment made in the London and South Coast Rail Corridor Study conducted for the Department for Transport, how much they estimate restoring the Uckfield to Lewes rail line would cost.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
High-level estimated costs to reinstate closed rail lines between Lewes and Uckfield range from £150m to over £1billion, depending on scope of the scheme. The London & South Coast Rail Corridor Study concluded there is no case for Government to progress development, but interested parties, including local authorities, may wish to work to improve the viability of such schemes. Any proposal presented to Government would need to be consistent with the new rail network enhancement pipeline.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they estimate has been lost in rail revenues due to running rail replacement services on the Brighton Main Line in each year since 2010.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Department for Transport does not hold data on lost revenue to this level of detail. However, as part of agreed industry practice, Network Rail pays compensation to Train Operating Companies to mitigate the loss in passenger income suffered as a result of its infrastructure and engineering works.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether ministers took into account current or past performance as a criteria when awarding Virgin Trains East Coast the East Coast franchise; and if so, what weight was given to performance criteria.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Past performance is evaluated for all prospective franchisees at the Pre-Qualification stage when suppliers are short listed for a competition. For the East Coast competition, this was set out in the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire which was published in October 2013. The evaluation criteria for the award of the InterCity East Coast franchise are set out in the Invitation to Tender which was published in March 2014. The Invitation To Tender sets out five Delivery Plans, each of which contains a series of requirements against which bids were evaluated, with appropriate weightings. Contract award was made following an evaluation of bids against these requirements.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they will take to prevent further deterioration of Southern Rail services.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Prior to the start of the industrial action by the RMT on Southern, the performance on this route was improving; we urge the union in the strongest terms to get round the table and end this unjustified action which is harming passengers.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to give guidance to the operator of Southern Rail services on ensuring passenger safety when short formation services are in use.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Each operator is responsible for the safety of their staff, passengers and services. The Office of Rail and Road’s duty is to ensure that those responsible for keeping Britain's railways safe for passengers and providing a safe place for staff to work do so.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guidance the operator of Southern Rail services is given on the safe passenger loading capacity for Sussex Coastal services.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Transport safety is a key objective of the Government and the UK has one of the safest railways in Europe. Each operator is responsible for the safety of their staff, passengers and services. The Office of Rail and Road’s duty is to ensure that those responsible for keeping Britain's railways safe for passengers, and providing a safe place for staff to work, do so.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of rising train fares on university and college students.
Answered by Baroness Kramer - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Treasury and Economy)
We recognise concerns many passengers have about impacts of rail fares on people’s budgets, which is why the cost of regulated rail fares will be capped at RPI+0% for 2015.
Young people between the ages of 16 and 25 who are in full time study remain eligible for the 16-25 railcard, which enables the holder to receive 1/3 off of standard anytime, off-peak and Advance fares.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have discussed with Southern Railway an extension of the Unizone area in which students benefit from reduced fares to the University of Brighton's Hastings campus.
Answered by Baroness Kramer - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Treasury and Economy)
There have been no discussions with Southern Railway on an extension of the Unizone area.