Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of TransPennine Express services were cancelled in each month from May 2022 to May 2024.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Information on train cancellations is published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) and can be found on their data portal. This data is not available by calendar month, but is published periodically, by rail periods which are 28 days in duration apart from period 1 (starts on 1 April) and period 13 (ends on 31 March). Each financial year (April to March) consists of 13 railway periods.
Table 1 shows the number of trains that were either partially or fully cancelled, and the proportion of planned services that were partially or fully cancelled by TransPennine Express, for each period from 1st April 2022 to 25th May 2024.
Table 1. The proportion of planned services for TransPennine Express that were partially or fully cancelled, each period from 1 April 2022 to 25 May 2024
Rail period | Proportion of planned trains cancelled (%) | Moving annual average of cancellations (%) |
1 April 2022 - 30 April 2022 | 4.6 | 3.4 |
1 May 2022 - 28 May 2022 | 4.5 | 3.0 |
29 May 2022 - 25 June 2022 | 5.6 | 3.6 |
26 June 2022 - 23 July 2022 | 8.2 | 5.3 |
24 July 2022 - 20 August 2022 | 6.2 | 5.3 |
21 August 2022 - 17 September 2022 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
18 September 2022 - 15 October 2022 | 6.4 | 3.5 |
16 October 2022 - 12 November 2022 | 7.9 | 4.4 |
13 November 2022 - 10 December 2022 | 6.3 | 4.1 |
11 December 2022 - 7 January 2023 | 11.8 | 7.9 |
8 January 2023 - 4 February 2023 | 8.9 | 3.1 |
5 February 2023 - 4 March 2023 | 7.2 | 2.9 |
5 March 2023 - 31 March 2023 | 5.7 | 3.3 |
1 April 2023 - 29 April 2023 | 4.5 | 3.0 |
30 April 2023 - 27 May 2023 | 6.0 | 3.0 |
28 May 2023 - 24 June 2023 | 6.0 | 4.1 |
25 June 2023 - 22 July 2023 | 5.1 | 3.6 |
23 July 2023 - 19 August 2023 | 6.4 | 4.4 |
20 August 2023 - 16 September 2023 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
17 September 2023 - 14 October 2023 | 5.0 | 3.7 |
15 October 2023 - 11 November 2023 | 6.6 | 5.1 |
12 November 2023 - 9 December 2023 | 6.4 | 5.1 |
10 December 2023 - 6 January 2024 | 5.2 | 5.9 |
7 January 2024 - 3 February 2024 | 4.3 | 3.4 |
4 February 2024 - 2 March 2024 | 2.2 | 3.2 |
3 March 2024 - 31 March 2024 | 2.3 | 3.0 |
1 April 2024 - 27 April 2024 | 2.3 | 3.2 |
28 April 2024 - 25 May 2024 | 3.6 | 3.5 |
Source: DfT analysis of ORR Table 3124
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government which statutory harbour authorities in England charge for overhanging residential balconies.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The department has not conducted a review of all Statutory Harbour Authorities to assess if they have the power to charge for overhanging residential balconies. Given the divergence in port local acts, it is not clear how many ports have this power.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how bringing railways into public ownership will (1) reduce operating costs, (2) deliver economic growth, (3) improve delivery for passengers and freight operators, (4) reduce cost to passengers, and (5) ensure fair access to the network by all passengers and freight operators.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Bringing train operations into public ownership is the first step in the Government’s plans for wider rail reform, including establishing Great British Railways (GBR). Under public ownership, passenger services will be operated in the interests of passengers, not shareholders. Under GBR, we will create a unified and simplified railway that puts passengers first, rebuilding trust.
GBR is set to be the ‘directing mind’ for the rail industry, bringing together the management of the network and the delivery of passenger services into a single public body, to deliver better services for passengers and freight customers, and better value for money for taxpayers. These changes form a critical part of the Government’s wider Plan for Change - delivering growth, jobs, and housing through greater connectivity, putting more money in people’s pockets, and rebuilding Britain.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 10 April (HL6331), whether they have held any meetings with the Port of London Authority in the past 12 months; on what date any such meetings took place; and whether the issue of overhanging residential balconies was discussed.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The department has held many meeting with the PLAs. As one of the most important UK ports, officials and Ministers from across government meet with the Port regularly to discuss a range of issues. I can confirm that the issue of balconies has been raised.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce roadside cameras, following trials carried out between October 2022 and February 2023.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department does not have any current plans to undertake further trials of roadside noise cameras. The trials demonstrated that this technology currently has the potential to be used for enforcement, but only when accompanied by human review of the recorded evidence, which is likely to lower the cost effectiveness of deploying the technology in many circumstances.
It is ultimately for local authorities and the police to consider what the most appropriate enforcement routes may be for addressing issues with excessive vehicle noise within their area. The use of noise camera technology has already been taken forward by some local authorities.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the most recent cost estimates for High Speed 2 include finance costs, or charges on the public money that will be spent on the project, in accordance with Treasury requirements and the government financial reporting manual; and what debt ratio, discount rates and assumptions were used.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The HS2 project is funded via capital contribution by the Department for Transport (DfT). Financing costs or charges on public money are not incurred by HS2 Ltd. As a Non-Departmental Public Body, HS2 Ltd also adopts the interpretations of Internation Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and additional disclosure requirements contained in the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) for the relevant financial year, where these are compatible with the requirements of the Companies Act. HS2 Ltd does not have debt as the Company is fully funded by HM Treasury/DfT. The key assumption for cost estimates is that they are currently presented in Q3 2019 prices. Regarding discount rates, the DfT’s Economic Appraisal of HS2 as presented in the “Phase One Full Business Case” (April 2020), which included the expected benefits, Ticket Revenues, construction costs and Operating Costs, were all discounted and presented in Net Present Value (NPV) terms in line with the DfT Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG) and HM Treasury Green Book guidance.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Port of London Authority regarding the requirement set out in its latest draft Harbour Revision Order for property owners to pay for licences for use of balconies overhanging the River Thames; and whether it is their understanding that such a requirement will apply to the parliamentary estate.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Harbour Revision Orders (HRO), and the associated consultations for these orders are conducted by the Marine Management Organisation who handle direct discussions with HRO applicants in the majority of cases.
Unusually in the case of this HRO, the department had initial discussions with the Port of London Authority around some of its proposed changes, which would have made changes to the powers of the Department within the ports’ operational area.
The Department has been made aware of the concerns of some property owners around the issues of balcony charges, but as the order has gone to an independent public inquiry, the department judged the inquiry to be the correct body to handle this issue.
The department has not made any investigations as to whether this would apply to the parliamentary estate.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reduction in deaths and serious injuries from road accidents that has occurred since the introduction of 20 mph speed limits in built-up areas in Wales; and what studies they have undertaken to determine what reduction could be expected if a 20 mph speed limit was similarly applied to roads in built-up areas of England.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Setting and evaluating national limits in Wales, including the restricted road limit on street-lit roads, is a matter for the Welsh Government. The power to introduce 20mph limits on roads in England rests with local authorities.
The Department for Transport published a comprehensive three-year evaluation of the effect of 20mph limits, which are 20mph schemes relying only on signage, on 22 November 2018. The evaluation looked at twelve case studies in England, including two in city centres.
The evaluation found insufficient evidence to conclude that that there had been a significant change in collisions and casualties following the introduction of 20mph limits in residential areas.
There is some evidence to suggest a positive 20mph impact in one city centre location in Brighton. A blanket 20mph limit was introduced, covering both major and minor roads, and there is sufficient data to show a statistically significant change in collisions and casualties relative to the 30mph comparator area. It should be stressed that this represents just one case study, and the extent to which the findings are transferable to other locations is unclear.
The Department for Transport has regular discussions with our counterparts in the devolved governments, including on road safety.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the provision of hot food options on long-distance inter-city train services that are under public ownership.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
There are two train companies under public ownership that operate long-distance inter-city services: London North-Eastern Railway (LNER) and TransPennine Express.
LNER provides catering facilities on all of its services in both standard and first class. Many services include hot food options depending on time of day and route. There are no current plans to expand LNER’s offer.
On TransPennine Express, an enhanced catering option including hot food was introduced on services between Liverpool and Newcastle on 17 February 2025. This followed a successful trial of enhanced catering options on West Coast routes in 2024. The ‘West Coast Kitchen’ initiative exceeded forecasted revenue uplift and has crated additional employment opportunities for onboard catering staff.
As a principally short-distance and commuter operator, Northern does not offer catering on its services.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what investigations they have undertaken about the provision of a link between the new station at Old Oak Common and the proposed new Hythe Road station on the London Overground's Mildmay Line.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The HS2 station currently being constructed at Old Oak Common will connect HS2 services with services on the existing Great Western Main Line including an interchange with the Elizabeth line; provisional journey times are approximately 15 minutes from Old Oak Common to London’s West End, 20 minutes to the City, and 25 minutes to Canary Wharf.
The local area surrounding Old Oak Common station is currently subject to proposals for development by various organisations. Whilst the HS2 Ltd design for Old Oak Common has not yet integrated designs, the urban realm area and station itself has been designed and sized to account for growth. To the east of the site, in the direction of Hythe Road, the station design provides passive provision for both pedestrian and vehicle bridge links so that these can be added later if needed, after the station ceases to operate as a terminus. Note that the proposed station at Hythe Road is a Transport for London proposal and HS2 Ltd isn't delivering any direct scope associated with this station.
HS2 Ltd continues to work closely with the Old Oak Park Royal Development Corporation, local boroughs and Transport for London to review potential pedestrian routes and ensure feasibility of proposals for development.