Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contingencies are in place for a complete structural failure of the Severn Tunnel.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The structure of the Severn Tunnel is maintained by Network Rail. In line with all structures on the route, it is inspected annually with a detailed survey carried out every six years. Established maintenance plans are in place to maintain the condition of the track. Network Rail are confident that the tunnel remains structurally sound and they consider the risk of a complete structural failure to be very unlikely.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the total emissions from the transport sector of (a) PM2.5, (b) PM1 and (c) PM0.1 in the last three years for which data is available.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Figures for the emissions of Particulate Matter (PM) from domestic transport of (a) 2.5 micrometres or less, (b) 1 micrometre or less, and (c) 0.1 micrometres or less for the years 2015 to 2017 are in the table below.
Table 1. Final emissions of PM2.5, PM1, and PM0.1 from domestic transport for the years 2015, 2016, and 2017 in kilotonnes. Source: (NAEI).
Particle Size | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
PM2.5 | 18.4 | 17.7 | 16.9 |
PM1 | 10.8 | 10.1 | 9.3 |
PM0.1 | 5.3 | 4.9 | 4.5 |
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the number of regular cyclists in (a) Stroud constituency, (b) Gloucestershire, and (c) England.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Government’s Active Lives Survey, carried out annually by Sport England, suggests that in the period from mid-November 2016 to mid-November 2017, 13.6% of adults cycled at least once a week within Stroud District Council; 14.7% cycled at least once a week in Gloucestershire; and 11.9% cycled at least once a week in England. The survey includes any cycling, irrespective of trip length or purpose, and results are grouped according to the area where respondents live, which may not be the same as the area where they walk or cycle.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to include (a) horse-riding and (b) horse-drawn carriages in his Department's support for the development of active travel and local walking and cycling infrastructure plans.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Government’s Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan Guidance notes that local authorities should consider the needs of equestrians where they have access to walking and cycling infrastructure such as off-carriageway routes. However, the Government does not intend to specify that all measures to support active travel must include a horse-riding or horse drawn carriage element: decisions on this are a matter for local authorities. Nevertheless the Government does encourage local authorities to support equestrians in their active travel plans.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people have been sent to prison for impersonating someone else at a (a) driving test and (b) driving theory exam in the last 10 years.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times signalling problems between Paddington and Swindon have caused delays in passenger journeys in each month since January 2018.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Detailed delay information is not collected by the Department for Transport. However, Network Rail’s railway performance statistics can be found on the Office of Rail and Road Data Portal website at https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/performance/network-rail-outputs-and-indicators .
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on how many occasions Great Western trains ran with reduced carriage numbers as a result of a shortage of sets in each month since the introduction of the new trains in October 2017.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Department for Transport does not hold the data requested.