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 costs his Department has incurred as a result of delays to the TransPennine Midland Main Line, and Great Western Main Line electrification project.
Answered by Claire Perry
The department has not incurred any additional costs as a result of Sir Peter Hendy’s re-plan of the rail upgrade programme, which includes TransPennine, Midland Main Line, and Great Western Main Line electrification.
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 make an assessment of the effect of changes to the use of the Young Persons Railcard for peak time services on people holding that card.
Answered by Claire Perry
The administration of all the national cards, both mandatory and voluntary, is performed by a council, run as part of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC). The council agrees the conditions of the schemes and any changes to the mandatory schemes have to be approved by the Secretary of State. All Train Operating Companies are obliged to participate in such schemes under the terms of their franchise agreements.
As it is for ATOC to suggest any change to the schemes, it would be for them to make such an assessment when proposing any change which would be reviewed before approval by the Secretary of State.
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 Rail North will work with existing transport bodies in the area in which it operates.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Rail North consists of Rail North Ltd (RNL) a company limited by guarantee and the Association of Rail North Partner Authorities ("the Association").The Association consists of 29 local transport authorities (including combined authorities and PTEs, county councils and unitary district councils). Its main function is to develop and oversee the implementation of a long-term rail strategy for the North; it also acts as a forum for liaison with Transport for the North on rail issues.
All member authorities of the Association are members of RNL, which is run by a Board of eleven elected councillors appointed by the member authorities on a geographical basis. However, important strategic and financial issues require the approval of the membership.These governance arrangements therefore provide all 29 local transport authorities a full opportunity to engage with Rail North on important rail issues affecting their area.
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 the cost to the public purse was of the negotiations on the TransPennine Express rail franchise agreement.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The costs of the project to procure the TransPennine Express rail franchise, to the end of November 2015, were £6.9M. Forecast costs to project completion, including project mobilisation, are expected to add a further £0.6M to this, making an estimated total of £7.5M by the end of the project. These figures include adviser costs (financial, technical and legal advisers), pay costs for the project team, “non-pay” costs (such as staff training, travel, bidder day seminar, consultation materials, etc) and VAT where applicable. The costs of procuring this franchise however need to be set against the context of a deal whereby the Government will receive £400million in premiums over the life of the franchise, compared to the previous situation where the franchise was subsidised. In addition, the franchise will deliver a transformation in services, with, for example, an overall capacity boost of nearly 70% across the region during the morning peak and doubling the number of Manchester to Newcastle services from December 2017.
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 the cost to the public purse was of the negotiations on the Northern rail franchise agreement.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The costs of the project to procure the Northern rail franchise, to the end of November 2015, were £8.0M. Forecast costs to project completion, including project mobilisation, are expected to add a further £0.6M to this, making an estimated total of £8.6M by the end of the project. These figures include adviser costs (financial, technical and legal advisers), pay costs for the project team, “non-pay” costs (such as staff training, travel, bidder day seminar, publicity, etc) and VAT where applicable.
The costs of procuring this franchise however need to be set against the context of a deal whereby the amount of annual subsidy will be reduced by £140million by the end of this 9-year contract. In addition, unlike the last Northern franchise in 2004 which included limited plans to invest in services or meet demand, this new franchise will deliver more than 2,000 extra services each week, nearly a 40% increase in capacity and the complete removal of the outdated and unpopular Pacers by the end of 2019.
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 the running costs of the Isle of Wight Island Line were in each category of expenditure in each of the last three years.
Answered by Claire Perry
We do not have the running costs of the Isle of Wight Island Line in each category of expenditure in each of the last three years. What we do have are the figures for 2014/15 as supplied by SSWT:
Costs | £m |
Staff costs | 2.093 |
Station Lease costs | 1.298 |
Depot Track Renewals, Maintenance, Materials | 0.66 |
Track access and Electric Traction | 0.123 |
Other | 0.443 |
Total Costs | 4.617 |
SSWT have informed us that the Island Line generated the following income in each of the last five years:
2010/11 = £0.9m
2011/12 = £1.0m
2012/13 = £1.0m
2013/14 = £0.9m
2014/15 = £0.9m
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 income from passengers was earned by the Isle of Wight Island Line in each of the last five years.
Answered by Claire Perry
We do not have the running costs of the Isle of Wight Island Line in each category of expenditure in each of the last three years. What we do have are the figures for 2014/15 as supplied by SSWT:
Costs | £m |
Staff costs | 2.093 |
Station Lease costs | 1.298 |
Depot Track Renewals, Maintenance, Materials | 0.66 |
Track access and Electric Traction | 0.123 |
Other | 0.443 |
Total Costs | 4.617 |
SSWT have informed us that the Island Line generated the following income in each of the last five years:
2010/11 = £0.9m
2011/12 = £1.0m
2012/13 = £1.0m
2013/14 = £0.9m
2014/15 = £0.9m
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 the procurement contract for the new Hitachi Intercity Express Programme specifies the internal layout and specification of rolling stock.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Intercity Express Programme (IEP) specification delivers the priorities of both train operators and passenger groups. The contract also makes provision for variation of the interior layout during the life of IEP to response to changes in passenger demand and priorities.
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 performance indicators the Office of Road and Rail uses to assess the performance of Network Rail.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) have advised that in the current five yearly regulatory cycle (Control Period 5) that started on 1st April 2014, they established 13 categories of regulated outputs,some of which are disaggregated further, such as by franchised train operator route or by delivery milestones.These outputs include train service reliability, enhancements, health and safety, network availability, network capability, stations, depots, asset management and environment.
There are 25 categories of core indicators from these outputs, which are disaggregated further. Full details of the regulated outputs can be found on table 3.11, page 125 of the Final Determination for Control Period 5, a copy of which is attached.
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 plans for the South East Flexible Ticketing scheme to be delivered.
Answered by Claire Perry
Smart ticketing was taken forward by the Coalition Government after 2010. Five train operators, serving 73% of all rail season ticket holders in the South East, have now signed up to the South East Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) programme.
Smart season tickets are already available to customers on Govia Thameslink Railway and c2c. South West Trains and Abellio Greater Anglia plan to introduce smart seasons on their services in January 2016; Southeastern will follow at the end of 2016.
A new SEFT central back office, providing critical IT infrastructure and data processing capability, underwent testing in August 2015. This will enable train operators to consider a range of new products and services including automatic delay repay, flexible season tickets and loyalty schemes, and also to extend smart ticketing across a range of transport modes including rail, trams and buses.
In September 2015, Birmingham New Street station reopened with smart-enabled ticket barriers supported by the central back office.
On current plans, the South East Flexible Ticketing programme will complete in 2018.