Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he anticipates the Ramsgate to Ostend ferry route will be open to freight if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
I expect this route to be open to freight by April 2019.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of (a) the number of trains that will run overcapacity and (b) the amount by which they will exceed their capacity on average by 2025 on currents trends in funding and passenger growth.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Estimates for the number of overcrowded trains and their levels of overcrowding in 2025 are not available.
Capacity provided by franchised rail operators is monitored by the DfT through a regular series of passenger counts at a number of major city centre stations. Along with other data sources, these feed into a model that allows the DfT to forecast passenger demand. Latest published forecasts for passenger demand are available here:
The results enable the DfT to liaise with operators where capacity problems are identified, and to ensure that potential solutions are investigated.
It is for the rail industry to plan to fully deploy available rolling stock to best meet passenger demand and take all reasonable steps to minimise any crowding, as set out in the Train Plan within the Franchise Agreements for DfT’s franchised train operators.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the end of two tone horn warnings at whistle boards on trends in the level of fatalities at railway level crossings.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Rail Safety Standards Board (RSSB) is responsible for issuing guidance to train drivers operating on the mainline railway, including the procedures for using horns at whistle boards, which are placed in advance of most level crossings.
Since June 2007, train drivers have not been required to make two tone horn warnings at whistle boards, although it remains in discretion of the driver to use two tone horn warnings if necessary, for example to give warning to someone on or near a running line.
The Department continues to monitor safety on the rail network, including at level crossings, which has gradually improved over the last decade.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will place in the Library a copy of all documents and emails held by his Department on the due diligence undertaken on Seaborne Freight Ltd. before the awarding of a freight moving contract to them as part of the preparation for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The contractual process was set out in the Written Ministerial Statement made by my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State on 7 January. The due diligence was carried out on a commercially confidential basis and therefore we have no plans to publish any further detail.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the number and proportion of trains running over capacity in the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Capacity provided by franchised rail operators is monitored by the DfT through a regular series of passenger counts at a number of major city centre stations. The results enable the DfT to liaise with operators where capacity problems are identified, and to ensure that potential solutions are investigated.
It is for the rail industry to plan to fully deploy available rolling stock to best meet passenger demand, and take all reasonable steps to minimise any crowding.
Rail crowding statistics published by the Department for Transport provides information on passenger crowding into major city centres, based on a typical autumn weekday. The table below presents the percentage of standard class passengers in excess of the capacity (PiXC) on their train service across the morning peak (07:00 to 09:59) and evening peak (16:00 to 18:59) into major city centres.
Passengers in excess of capacity (PiXC) on a typical autumn weekday across fourteen major cities in England and Wales
| 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 |
Total for all major cities | 3.5% | 3.8% | 3.8% | 3.5% | 2.6% |
Further information is provided in the following online table:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/728189/rai0209.ods
This table is part of an annual statistics publication on passenger numbers and crowding in major city centres in England and Wales, which can be found here:
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will place in the Library the Government's full plans to facilitate traffic flows (a) into, (b) through and (c) around Welsh ports after 29 March 2019 in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Chris Grayling
Responsibility for the plans to facilitate traffic flows around ports in Wales rests with the Welsh Assembly. The Government has been working closely with the Welsh Assembly Government to support their planning.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what performance indicators his Department uses to measure the number of times that trains run by franchise operators have not stopped at a station as a result of a service already being late running.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Services that skip one or more stations for reasons the operator itself is responsible are considered as Part Cancellations within the Department’s Cancellation performance regime. This means they are counted towards the overall number of Cancellations any operator incurs against its benchmark. The Department does not routinely require any specific reason for a cancellation to be reported.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what methodology his Department uses to assess the performance of franchises in relation to delivering a good service for disabled users.
Answered by Andrew Jones
As a condition of their licence, train operating companies must publish a Disabled People’s Protection Policy which sets out the level of service they will provide to disabled passengers. This must be approved by and is monitored by the independent regulator, the Office of Road and Rail (ORR), who have the powers to take enforcement action where that service is not provided.
Furthermore, the ORR has recently launched a consultation on wide-ranging reforms to the Disabled People's Protection Policy designed to bring greater quality, consistency and reliability to Assisted Travel for disabled passengers. The proposed reforms include strengthening their monitoring of train operating companies obligations regarding provision of information on what assistance is available and how to obtain it.
The Department also includes challenging customer satisfaction targets in Franchise Agreements for a range of key measures and regularly monitors performance against them. The targets incentivise train companies to deliver a consistently high-quality experience for all passengers, including disabled users, and where they are missed, operators must invest in improvements.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many new ships were registered on the UK Ship Register in each year since 2010.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The total number of ships newly registered on Part 1 (Commercial) and Part 4 (Bareboat) on the UK Ship Register since 2010 is 680. The table below shows this data for each year, with the 2018 data showing as at 30 November.
Year | Ships |
2010 | 91 |
2011 | 96 |
2012 | 75 |
2013 | 70 |
2014 | 55 |
2015 | 84 |
2016 | 62 |
2017 | 80 |
2018 | 67 |
TOTAL | 680 |
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what risk assessment his Department has made of third party access to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's registered keeper database in cases where the third party (a) uses that information themselves and (b) provides that information to another company.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has robust measures in place to protect the data it holds. The release of DVLA’s data is subject to a formal assessment to ensure that there are adequate policies, procedures and technical controls in place to protect it. Data Protection Impact Assessments are completed to identify and address any privacy risks and ensure that personal data is only processed in compliance with the law.
Recipients of vehicle keeper information must handle the data in accordance with clear terms and conditions. Where recipients pass the information onto another company, there must be a formal contract in place to provide assurance over the use and security of the data. The original recipient retains overall responsibility for the use of the data by its sub-contractors.
The DVLA carries out its own comprehensive audits, involving both remote and on-site audits in conjunction with the Government Internal Audit Agency. This helps to ensure that information provided by the DVLA is used only in accordance with its terms and conditions. Failure to comply can result in denied access to the information.