Asked by: Lord Snape (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they still plan to (1) level up, (2) decarbonise, and (3) grow the economy; and what part they envisage the railway industry can play in realising such intentions.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Government remains committed to boosting trend growth as the route to raising living standards and delivering high quality public services across the whole of the UK. The Government is also committed to tackling climate change and delivering on our obligations to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050.
The Chancellor has announced the Autumn Statement will be delivered on 17 November. This will contain the UK’s medium-term fiscal plan, which will include an assessment of UK growth, and will be accompanied by an OBR Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
The Government recognises the rail network's important role in improving connectivity, empowering regional economies and driving growth. The Government is committed to maintaining, renewing and enhancing the rail network. In the Transport Decarbonisation Plan the Government committed to delivering a net zero rail network by 2050.
Asked by: Lord Snape (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions have taken place with independent rail retailers such as (1) SilverRail, (2) Trainline, and (3) Worldline, about future rail fare simplification.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We have been clear in the Plan for Rail White Paper that we want to simplify the current mass of complicated fares and tickets, whilst protecting affordable turn up and go tickets and season tickets.
We are engaging with wider industry, including independent rail retailers, as part of this work.
Asked by: Lord Snape (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, given the postponement of legislation regarding the creation of Great British Railways, what plans they have to simplify the current railway fare structure.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We have been clear in the Plan for Rail White Paper we want to simplify the current mass of complicated fares and tickets, whilst protecting affordable turn up and go tickets and season tickets.
We will continue to work with the sector to tackle the challenges Keith Williams set out in the Plan for Rail, including improving fares, ticketing and retail.
Asked by: Lord Snape (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the recent announcement regarding the electrification of the Midland Main Line and the TransPennine route, what plans they have to ensure that electric haulage is used whenever possible on both (1) passenger, and (2) freight, trains.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We continue to work through design and development phases of these schemes and have already commenced construction works for electrification of some sections of the routes. We expect rail operators to deliver passenger and freight services with rolling stock that makes the best use of the available infrastructure, while considering operational requirements and the need to reduce industry emissions.
As we decarbonise the railway, we will design the rollout of further electrification of the Midland Main Line and the TransPennine Route Upgrade in such a way to allow the switchover from diesel to electric as soon as possible, although some services will not be able to switch immediately if they use multiple lines.
Asked by: Lord Snape (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Freightliner UK Ltd regarding its plans to replace electric locomotives with diesels on its services.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government fully recognises business concerns around increasing electricity prices, and we have been regularly engaging with Freightliner, amongst other Freight Operating Companies, on this issue and will continue to do so. It is however a commercial decision for private sector freight operators to decide whether or not to pause their use of some electric trains and return to using diesel trains due to the increased price of electricity. Freightliner has stated that this is a temporary measure and will be kept under review.
Despite Freightliner deciding to revert to diesel locomotives, rail freight remains one of the most carbon efficient ways of moving goods over long distances. To reduce congestion and emissions from across the freight sector, the Government continues to support the modal shift of freight from road to rail, including through the £20m Mode Shift Revenue Support grant scheme (2021/22) that supports the carriage of freight by rail and water on routes where road haulage has a financial advantage.
This Government is committed to going further and faster to tackle climate change than ever before. In our recently published Transport Decarbonisation Plan – the first such plan in the world – the Government committed to delivering a net zero railway by 2050. We will continue to build on the strong, green credentials of the rail sector by electrifying more of the network. Additionally, we committed to incentivising the take up of low carbon traction by the Freight Operating Companies and will be working with the rail freight industry as we develop potential policy interventions.
Asked by: Lord Snape (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that Avanti West Coast Trains Ltd stop using diesel trains on lines which have been fully electrified.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Avanti West Coast is replacing its current diesel powered trains with a new electric and electric/diesel hybrid bimodal fleet which will start operating in 2022/23. With the ability to switch seamlessly between electric and diesel power, the new fleet will ensure that there is no longer diesel operation on electrified lines in support of a drive to a cleaner environment.
Asked by: Lord Snape (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their decision to remove the Canary Islands from their travel corridor list for the COVID-19 pandemic, what plans they have to renew their advice on holiday travel to that destination.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
FCDO travel advice related to COVID-19 is based on the country assessments of Public Health England and the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC), the organisation mandated to provide health advice to British nationals travelling overseas. They judge the risks of exposure to COVID-19 in each country/territory. All FCDO travel advice pages remain under constant review to ensure they reflect the latest threat assessment to British nationals and include up-to-date information and advice.
Asked by: Lord Snape (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made by the Global Travel Taskforce on the development of a COVID-19 testing regime for international arrivals and departures to and from the UK; and when such a regime might be implemented.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Global Travel Taskforce has published its report, which contains a series of recommendations aimed at ensuring there are clear public health measures, increasing demand safely and that the UK is at the forefront in leading global standards.
As well as rolling out ‘Test to Release for International Travel’ from 15 December for arrivals into England, they include the continued development of potential pre-departure testing models.
The UK continues to explore pilots with partner countries on a bilateral basis, including exploring different possible models for pre-departure testing.
We will of course remain open to new testing technologies and other approaches that help people travel safely. As our knowledge and capacity for testing develops, so will our policy.
Asked by: Lord Snape (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made by the Global Travel Taskforce on its objectives; when that Taskforce expects to report; and when they expect to make public its findings.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Global Travel Taskforce has published its report, which contains a series of recommendations aimed at ensuring there are clear public health measures, increasing demand safely and that the UK is at the forefront in leading global standards.
The report sets out 14 recommendations for the Government to take forward to support the safe recovery of international travel. As well as rolling out the test to release regime, they include the continued development of pre-departure testing models, studying the feasibility of a short stay business exemption, and continuing to advocate for harmonization of global standards.
In addition to ‘Test to Release for International Travel’, we remain open to new testing technologies and other approaches that will help people travel. As our knowledge and capacity for testing develops, so will our policy.
Asked by: Lord Snape (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish the evidence supporting the case for specific travel advice for cruise ships.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) advises against ocean cruising informed by public health risk assessments. This advice is kept under continuous review. The risk assessments to inform travel advice from Public Health England and the Department of Health and Social Care are not published separately.
The FCDO remains fully committed to working closely with the Department for Transport and key industry leaders, informed by the changing public health situation during this pandemic to agree on the steps required to restart cruises safely.