Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the average speed of vehicles travelling between junctions 3 and 2 on the M25 on weekdays between the hours of 8am to 9am in August (a) 2008, (b) 2012 and (c) 2016.
Answered by John Hayes
The information is not held centrally for the breakdowns requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the average speed of vehicles travelling between junctions 4 and 3 on the M25 on weekdays between the hours of 8am to 9am in August (a) 2008, (b) 2012 and (c) 2016.
Answered by John Hayes
The information is not held centrally for the breakdowns requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the level of the toll that is levied on HGVs using the Dartford Crossing during peak hours.
Answered by John Hayes
My Department consulted on options for revising the charging regime at the Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing in 2011. This considered the impacts on Heavy Goods Vehicle flows during the peak hours. The impact assessment is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/dartford-thurrock-river-crossing-charges-consultation
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of foreign-registered vehicles using the Dartford Crossing in the last 12 months.
Answered by John Hayes
The number of crossings recorded and identified as made by non UK vehicles, in the 12 month period between 18 November 2015 and 17 November 2016 was 2,098,241.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what total revenue has been generated from foreign-registered freight lorries under the Dart Charge scheme since that scheme's inception.
Answered by Andrew Jones
From the introduction of Dart Charge on 30 November 2014 to the end of March 2016 £11,212,158 in revenue has been collected from the registered keepers of foreign freight vehicles.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many penalty charge notices have been (a) issued to motorists and (b) subsequently withdrawn or successfully appealed since the inception of the Dart Charge scheme.
Answered by Andrew Jones
From the introduction of Dart Charge on 30 November 2014 to the end of March 2016 3,392,215 Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) have been issued for non-payment of the road user charge.
Highways England has taken a balanced approach to enforcement of Dart Charge by being clear to drivers that they need to pay the charge and giving them every opportunity to do so. As part of this approach the first PCN issued for each vehicle includes a warning letter giving the registered keeper an extra 14 days to pay their original road user charge for use of the crossing (and any additional road user charges accrued by the end of the 14 days) without penalty. In total 1,490,319 PCNs have been cancelled due to drivers paying the outstanding road user charges following receipt of a warning letter.
In addition a further 86,195 PCNs have been cancelled following representation or appeal and 354,201 PCNs cancelled for other reasons including payment errors made by customers or early system issues which have since been addressed.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential economic benefits of extending Crossrail to (a) Dartford and (b) Ebbsfleet stations.
Answered by Claire Perry
In 2014 the Department commissioned a value for money review of the benefits offered by an extension of Crossrail services to Ebbsfleet (via Dartford). This report recommended further analysis before an informed decision could be made. Subsequently Network Rail have launched a Kent Route Study which will assess the need for, and feasibility of, rail network enhancements across Kent. This will include any possible extension of Crossrail services which would need to be underpinned by further economic analysis conducted by Transport for London.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the removal of the toll booths at the Dartford Crossing on levels of air pollution in Dartford.
Answered by Andrew Jones
As part of Highways England’s standard practice, a full project review will be undertaken one year after the main carriageway works were completed in July 2015. This will include an assessment of air quality.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much Network Rail has paid to Southeastern trains in compensation in the last (a) 12 months, (b) three years and (d) five years.
Answered by Claire Perry
This information is published on Network Rail’s website - http://www.networkrail.co.uk/transparency/datasets/ - covering the years 11-12 to 14-15.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) serious injuries and (b) fatalities in road traffic accidents were been reported to the police in (i) Dartford and (b) Kent in each year between 2010 to 2015.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The table below gives the number of a) fatalities, b) seriously injured and c) slightly injured casualties in personal injury road accidents reported to the police in i) Dartford, ii) Kent (excluding Medway unitary authority) and iii) Medway unitary authority for 2010 to 2014.
| i) Dartford | ii) Kent excl Medway UA | ||||||
| a) Killed | b) Serious | c) Slight | Total | a) Killed | b) Serious | c) Slight | Total |
2010 | 5 | 53 | 584 | 642 | 55 | 490 | 5,257 | 5,802 |
2011 | 4 | 36 | 550 | 590 | 43 | 476 | 5,185 | 5,704 |
2012 | 4 | 23 | 552 | 579 | 50 | 474 | 5,231 | 5,755 |
2013 | 1 | 45 | 540 | 586 | 48 | 546 | 5,236 | 5,830 |
2014 | 1 | 42 | 616 | 659 | 49 | 609 | 5,645 | 6,303 |
| iii) Medway UA | |||
| a) Killed | b) Serious | c) Slight | Total |
2010 | 2 | 57 | 633 | 692 |
2011 | 5 | 59 | 766 | 830 |
2012 | 2 | 49 | 774 | 825 |
2013 | 7 | 49 | 766 | 822 |
2014 | 1 | 56 | 788 | 845 |
Data for 2015 will be available in June 2016.