Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will introduce a formula to reduce rail ticket prices across the strike-affected southern region until normal service is resumed.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The government has announced a multi-million pound compensation payment for at least 84,000 Southern passengers, to recognise the particular hardship of those who have suffered long delays, cancellations and disruption in recent months. Those who qualify will receive a payment equal to one month’s travel.
This payment is in addition to the compensation scheme ‘Delay Repay 15’, under which GTR passengers will be able to claim back 25% of the cost of the single fare for delays between 15 and 29 minutes, with passengers able to apply for compensation through the train operating company.
The government has also committed to capping regulated rail fare increases at RPI+0% for the term of this Parliament from 2016 to 2020. This extends the cap on rail fares put in place for 2014 and 2015. This will benefit over a quarter of a million annual season ticket holders, providing an average saving to season ticket holders of £425 in the five years to 2020.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the exact date is of the change in the delayed repay threshold on the Southern Rail franchise.
Answered by Paul Maynard
Work is progressing on this introduction, and is a matter of priority for both the operator and the Department. We expect to be able to announce an implementation date shortly.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of cycle lanes on traffic flows between Parliament Square and the City of London.
Answered by Andrew Jones
No assessment has been made. Cycle superhighways on the Transport for London Road Network are the responsibility of the Mayor of London. The design of parts of the East-West cycle superhighway which runs from the City to Parliament Square was modified following public consultation in order to reduce its impacts on other road users. Transport for London will be monitoring these impacts carefully, but as the cycle superhighway in question has been operational for less than a year it is too early to reach any definitive conclusions on this.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of cycle lanes on traffic in London.
Answered by Andrew Jones
No assessments have been made. The management of the Transport for London Road Network (or London’s “red routes”), including decisions on how much road space to allocate to cycle lanes and the impacts of that on other traffic, is a matter for the Mayor of London. The management of all other London roads is a matter for individual London boroughs.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has for future investment in the (a) West Sussex and (b) Mid Sussex transport network.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Local transport funding is directed at highway authority level, in this case West Sussex County Council, which includes Mid Sussex District Council. The Government is investing over £95m on local road maintenance and small scale transport schemes in the County up to 2021. In addition, West Sussex benefits from access to £238m Local Growth Funding (LGF) over the same period which has been secured by the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). Examples of this LGF funding include £17m towards the A3200 Burgess Hill Link Road and £13m towards a scheme to realign the A29 in Bognor Regis. The Department is also addressing missing links on the A27 by undertaking substantial improvements at Chichester, Arundel and Worthing.
On the rail network, the Department is working with stakeholders to develop options for the redevelopment of Gatwick Airport station. In addition, the Thameslink Programme is delivering significant benefits to the Brighton Main Line which serves Mid Sussex. Investment in new trains, London Bridge station and the Thameslink core means that from 2018, the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) franchise will be able to deliver a major improvement to rail services.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was paid in compensation for train delays by Network Rail to Govia Thameslink Railway related to Southern railway in each of the last four years.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The latest information is published on Network Rail’s website - http://www.networkrail.co.uk/transparency/datasets/ - covering the years 2012-13 to 2014-15.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he agreed to a variation of the franchise contract with Govia Thameslink Railway in respect of Southern Railway; and what consultation took place with hon. Members before he agreed that variation.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Remedial Plan and associated contract variation was agreed on the 12 February. We do not normally notify hon. Members with regard to contract change(s) to Franchise Agreements, as this is considered to be business as usual for the Department.
The Remedial Plan prepared in response to the notice issued by the Department for Transport under Section 55 of the Railways Act on 7th July 2015 was published online on the 26 May at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/525767/govia-thameslink-remedial-plan.pdf