Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to implement the proposals from Passenger Focus for amendments to the Delay Repay scheme for Southeastern season ticket holders; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Claire Perry
This is an area we are looking at closely but if we chose to require further changes to passenger compensation arrangements, the costs will ultimately fall to the Department and the taxpayer.
The Government has progressively introduced Delay/Repay compensation to ensure passengers are compensated fairly. The arrangements are more generous than the previous compensation arrangements for delays to individual journeys and compensation payments for poor service under the Passenger’s Charter have been rising significantly in recent years.
The Department is requiring that Delay/Repay be proactively promoted and made simple for passengers to use and effective in quickly repaying compensation sums. The Department is also encouraging operators to invest in simple apps and automation to ensure this.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to protect High Speed services to Ashford and other intermediate stations after the sale of the Government's shareholding in Eurostar; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Claire Perry
Domestic services to Ashford and intermediate stations are provided by the franchised operator London and Southeastern Railway Limited ("Southeastern"). The level of service provided is specified in Southeastern’s franchise agreement and would not be directly affected by the sale of the Government’s holding in Eurostar.
Eurostar is an open access operator; any decision on services provided by Eurostar to Ashford or intermediate stations is a commercial matter for that operator.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to protect High Speed 1 services to Ashford and other intermediate stations after the sale of the Government's shareholding; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Government is not undertaking a sale of High Speed 1(HS1) network. The HS1 network is operated on a concession from Government and remains the property of the Secretary of State. Given that there is no sale occurring there is no impact on the current level of services to Ashford or intermediate stations.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to provide a new rail halt at Kingsnorth in Ashford, Kent; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Claire Perry
In line with our localism agenda, it is for local authorities to decide whether they want a new station that meets local transport needs. It is for Kent County Council to decide on whether building a new station in Kingsnorth meets local transport needs.