Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on the electrification works on the Manchester to Stalybridge railway line.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The electrification works on the railway line between Manchester and Stalybridge (Phase 5 of the North West Electrification Programme), due by December 2017 will see the installation of infrastructure and improvements to facilitate overhead electrification of the railway line, delivering journey time benefits for passengers in the north of England.
Good progress has been made on the design and planning aspects of the project. Canopy works at Stalybridge station have been completed to achieve high level clearance required for electrification, and track interventions have taken place on Phase 5 infrastructure, including track lowering and renewals to enable electrification. Detailed Design is progressing well and is at an advanced stage of development.
This is an extremely complex engineering project ensuring electrification is delivered alongside capacity and journey time improvements. Network Rail continue to work with their contractors to develop a delivery programme to maximise passenger benefits and minimise disruption to a busy passenger and freight rail corridor.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will provide an update on his Department's preparations for the Mottram by-pass.
Answered by John Hayes
Highways England is currently identifying and assessing options for the Trans Pennine Routes which includes the Mottram by-pass. A public consultation on the Preferred Route is currently planned to take place in early 2017. There will also be two public awareness events in October 2016 which will provide an opportunity for people in the local communities to meet the project team, receive an update on progress and provide feedback which can then be used in the development of the scheme.
Planning permission for this scheme will require an application for a Development Consent Order and start of works is planned by March 2020 in line with the Highways England’s Delivery Plan 2015 – 2020.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answers of 16 December 2015 to Questions 19325 and 19326, how many staff in his Department were employed on a contract basis to procure the (a) Northern and (b) TransPennine franchise agreements; and what the total cost to the public purse was of those staff.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Department employed six individuals as contract staff at various times (sometimes covering the same role consecutively) for the Northern competition, and five for the TransPennine Competition. Costs of those staff were £1.203M and £1.275M respectively.
These costs however need to be set against the context of the deals achieved, whereby for Northern the amount of annual subsidy will be reduced by £160million by the end of the 9-year contract and for TransPennine the Government will receive £400million in premiums over the life of the franchise, compared to the previous situation where the franchise was subsidised.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects the South East flexible ticketing programme to commence.
Answered by Claire Perry
The South East Flexible Ticketing programme is already under way. c2c and Govia Thameslink Railway already offer annual season tickets on smartcards. Abellio Greater Anglia, South West Trains and Southeastern will launch their products this year. Together, these five train operators cover 73% of the annual season ticket market.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Network Rail staff are seconded to which train operating companies; and what the value is of those staff contracts.
Answered by Claire Perry
Network Rail does not hold this information centrally. To retrieve the information from Network Rail would involve disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what account his Department has taken of the performance of Arriva Transport in its patient delivery contract in Greater Manchester in its work to ensure that Arriva Rail North fulfils its contractual obligations.
Answered by Andrew Jones
At the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire stage of the bidding process we assess applicants to ensure they have the right approaches and capabilities to operate a rail franchise. This includes assessment of their management approaches to safety/culture etc. and requires them to provide evidence of these practices. We assess purely on this evidence and if the applicant is successful, they will be able to compete for a franchise. Applicants are also required to inform us as the authority if circumstances change. We do not comment on the specific evidence provided to us as part of this process as it is commercially sensitive, however we are content that Arriva Rail North are an appropriate company to operate the franchise.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans that smart ticketing will cover the entirety of the North or be separated between city regions.
Answered by Andrew Jones
We are working towards a world class transport network that is supported by a ticketing system that makes it simple and easy to travel across the North by bus, tram, metro and rail. In the recent spending review, the Government committed up to £150 million of new funding to help make this vision a reality. By Budget 2016, Transport for the North will set out an implementation plan for the delivery of smart and integrated ticketing across local transport and rail services in the North over this parliament and beyond.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what winter weather resilience measures have been put in place for the West Coast mainline.
Answered by Claire Perry
The rail industry has well-established procedures to ensure that railway infrastructure and trains are prepared for winter conditions, including the operation of specialised trains to treat the track to help keep it clear of snow and ice, the use of points heaters to prevent those freezing up, and measures to keep snow and ice out of electrical equipment on trains. With appropriate variation for the specific needs of each part of the network, these arrangements apply on the West Coast Main Line as on the rest of the network. I note that recently the West Coast main line north of Carlisle was re-opened just three days after being submerged under eight feet of floodwater.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding the Rail Delivery Group received from the public purse in (a) 2011, (b) 2012, (c) 2013, (d) 2014 and (v) 2015.
Answered by Claire Perry
The information requested is in the table below.
Year | Amount | Source |
2011-12 | N/A | |
2012-13 | N/A | |
2013-14 | N/A | |
2014-15 | £1,189,417 £151,987 | Network Rail[1] Directly Operated Railways[2] |
2015-16 (1 April 2015 to date) | £1,832,625[3] | Network Rail |
[1] Network Rail was reclassified as a public body by the Office for National Statistics on 1 September 2014. The figure shown is Network Rail’s contribution to the Rail Delivery Group from September 2014 – March 2015.
[2] Rail Delivery Group charged Directly Operated Railways for the first time in 2014-15.
[3] The figure shown is based on a full year contribution of £2,443,500.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contingency plans his Department has for the funding of the new Northern and TransPennine franchises in the event that projected passenger number increases are not achieved.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Revenue risk for these two franchises lies with the franchisee, not the Department. This means the Department is not responsible for covering any shortfall in farebox revenue compared to the successful bidders' expectations.
The successful bids are backed by significant parent company support which can be called upon in life to ensure the liquidity ratios are met. Also both franchises were subjected to a financial robustness test as part of the bid evaluation process and considered low risk for the Department.