Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, when life-expired railway infrastructure is being replaced, present appraisal methodology provides for the replacement infrastructure to reflect the current speeds and braking characteristics of modern trains.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The need to replace railway infrastructure is determined by regular inspections and reviews of the current state of the network. These test that the infrastructure is sufficient to safely and reliably support the type and speed of trains that it is intended to allow the operation of.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Gower on 24 January (HL1400), who pays for repairs to damaged rolling stock, in particular between Cardiff and London.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Train operators are responsible for meeting the costs involved in maintaining their fleets in accordance with the leasing and operating arrangements they have in place with the rolling stock owners.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Gower on 24 January (HL1399), whether they have access to information on the amount of money being refunded under the delay replay scheme as a result of disrupted rail services.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department publishes annual figures on the amount of compensation paid by train operating companies to passengers. These figures include delay compensation paid out under the Delay Repay and Traditional Charter schemes when passengers’ journeys are disrupted by delays or cancellations; and discretionary compensation that is paid following complaints of poor service, for example when toilets on the train aren’t working.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 14 July 2023 (HL8970) and Lord Davies of Gower on 24 January (HL1398), when is the earliest date by which additional rolling stock will be made available on the Cross Country network.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
CrossCountry is working with industry partners to acquire additional trains as they become available within the rolling stock market. CrossCountry is assessing whether it would be possible to operate a small number of additional trains during 2024 to deliver additional capacity, subject to their availability, the contractual terms with the rolling stock owner and an appropriate business case. All trains in the CrossCountry fleet are also due to be refurbished to improve passengers’ on-board experience.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether a train service specification had been developed for the TransPennine route upgrade prior to the commencement of the works.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Train service specifications were produced whilst the TransPennine Route Upgrade programme was at the development stage, before the commencement of programme delivery. However, these specifications continue to be refined as programme design matures to ensure the most efficient use of programme resources and funding.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the Service Quality Regime for the Avanti West Coast train operator provides good value for money.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department uses performance fees to incentivise operators to deliver the right outcomes for passengers.
Standards provided at stations and on trains are evaluated through an independent regime, the Service Quality Regime (SQR), so fees are awarded fairly and accurately ensuring value for money for taxpayers.
To date no fees have been paid to Avanti under SQR. The first period assessed under SQR are scores for April to October 2023 and evaluation is currently underway.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to resume publication of the National Rail Passenger Satisfaction Survey which was discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport are working closely with Transport Focus and other bodies within the industry to develop cost effective proposals for improving understanding of customer satisfaction across the rail network. This seeks to build on existing sources of information including independent research, complaints data, “mystery shopper” research and other surveys.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Gower on 20 December 2023 (HL1200), what discussions they have had with Hitachi about using their Newton Aycliffe plant to alleviate overcrowding, in particular between Cardiff and London, by repairing damaged rolling stock to enable services to be run with the scheduled number of carriages.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Great Western, as the operator of the trains, is in continual contact with their delivery partners to ensure that any sets that are damaged are repaired in a timely manner and at the most appropriate repair location.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 21 December 2023 (HL1254), to what extent foregone revenue and delay repay compensation are taken into account when they are considering increasing the capacity of railway services.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The department considers a range of factors including demand, revenue impact, cost to taxpayers, network capacity and operational performance when considering whether to increase rail services. Delay repay compensation varies with operational performance and is not considered directly when assessing potential new services.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Gower on 20 December 2023 (HL1201), when they expect any further services to be reintroduced between Nottingham and Lincoln, as passenger numbers now exceed those before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No further services are planned to be reintroduced between Nottingham and Lincoln stations, as services are now back to the regular frequency that was historically the case.