Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2025 to Question 21309 on River Tyne: Bridges, if she will meet the Port of Tyne to discuss the Swing Bridge.
Answered by Mike Kane
The department engages actively with many UK ports, including the Port of Tyne. However, the department has not engaged specifically with the Port of Tyne on this issue as it is a matter for the port and/or other local parties.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2025 to Question 21309 on River Tyne: Bridges, what responsibilities the Port of Tyne has for (a) the navigability of the River Tyne and (b) the Swing Bridge.
Answered by Mike Kane
The department has not engaged specifically with the Port of Tyne on this issue as it is a matter for the port and/or other local parties. The specific areas of responsibility of the Port of Tyne, and other parties, for navigational purposes and the Swing Bridge will be set out in the relevant local harbours act, or other local agreements. The specifics of these will be best understood and discussed with the Port of Tyne itself.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential (a) economic and (b) cultural impact of the (i) state and (ii) inability to swing of the Newcastle upon Tyne Swing Bridge.
Answered by Mike Kane
Responsibility for the mechanism and structure of the Swing Bridge lies with the Port of Tyne. Any such assessments are matters for the Port and relevant local authorities for the surrounding area.
Whilst the Department engages actively with many UK ports, no recent discussions have been held with the Port of Tyne on this matter. If any specific issue is raised with the Department, then it will discuss with the Port as appropriate.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Port of Tyne on the navigability of the River Tyne and its performance as a navigation authority.
Answered by Mike Kane
The department engages actively with many UK ports, including the Port of Tyne. However, the department has had no recent discussion with the port of Tyne on those specific points.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Port of Tyne on it's responsibilities to the Swing Bridge.
Answered by Mike Kane
The department engages actively with many UK ports, including the Port of Tyne. However, the department has had no recent discussion with the port of Tyne on those specific points.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 16157 on Railways: Nationalisation, whether her Department plans to maintain regional livery as railway franchises are brought into public ownership.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has not assessed the potential merits of maintaining regional livery as railway franchises are brought back into public ownership.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help improve the accessibility of information at bus stops for disabled people.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government wants everyone to have access to public transport and is committed to improving services so they are more inclusive and enable disabled people to travel safely, confidently and with dignity. On October 1st, the first phase of the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations 2023 came into force, meaning that newer vehicles providing local services must provide audible and visible information on stops, destinations and diversions. The majority of services will need to comply by October 2026.
Local authorities are responsible for the bus stops and shelters in their area, however the government will work with the sector to help drive improvements to real time information at bus stops as part of the government’s wider plans to deliver better bus services for passengers.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help improve the provision of real time information at bus stops.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government knows how important it is that passengers have better access to information about bus services. In 2020, the Public Service Vehicles (Open Data) (England) Regulations were passed which utilised the powers from the Bus Services Act to require bus operators in England outside of London to share high-quality, accurate and up-to-date timetables, fares and location data. To facilitate this, the Bus Open Data Service (BODS) was subsequently launched in 2020.
Local authorities are responsible for the bus stops and shelters in their area, however the government will work with the sector to help drive improvements to real time information at bus stops as part of the government’s wider plans to deliver better bus services for passengers.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November to Question 13473 and the Answer of 20 November 2024 to Question 14457 and 16158 on London North Eastern Railway: WiFi, what proportion of complaints about facilities on board were about wifi; and what the evidential basis is for the conclusion that wifi is not a significant cause of customer dissatisfaction.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
For the period July to September 2024 London North Eastern Railway received 64 complaints relating to Wi-Fi reliability which equates to 0.75 per cent of all complaints received in that period.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of maintaining regional livery designs as railway franchises are brought back into public ownership.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has not assessed the potential merits of maintaining regional livery designs as railway franchises are brought back into public ownership.