Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the pothole fund he plans to allocate to Worcestershire County Council in each of the next five financial years.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government is committed to improving local infrastructure and expects to announce details of the available funding shortly. Individual allocations of this funding will be subject to Ministerial decisions.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the performance of West Midlands Railway between Birmingham and Malvern Link.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Department and West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE) regularly monitor train service performance across the entire Franchise, and meet frequently with West Midlands Trains to support their plans for making services better and hold them to account when things go wrong. Since the timetable change, there has been a 3.89% (38.93% to 35.04%) reduction in right time arrivals in the Great Malvern and Malvern Link area, which is very disappointing. Since April 2019, a new ‘On Time’ performance measure was introduced. This new, tougher measure looks at the performance at every station along the route – not just whether trains reach their destination on time. This shows a collective commitment by industry and Government to provide a service on which passengers can rely.
In response to crowding issues, West Midlands Trains have added extra carriages to the 0650, 0739, 0810, and 0839 departures from Malvern Link, and the 1550 service from Birmingham New Street to Hereford. West Midlands Trains will also retain the Class 153 units until the delivery of their new trains later in 2020. These carriages will provide extra capacity for customers at Malvern Link station. West Midlands Trains has advised us they intend to recruit additional traincrew to make service delivery more robust.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the performance of West Midlands Railway services between Birmingham and Great Malvern station.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Department and West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE) regularly monitor train service performance across the entire Franchise, and meet frequently with West Midlands Trains to support their plans for making services better and hold them to account when things go wrong. Since the timetable change, there has been a 3.89% (38.93% to 35.04%) reduction in right time arrivals in the Great Malvern and Malvern Link area, which is very disappointing. Since April 2019, a new ‘On Time’ performance measure was introduced. This new, tougher measure looks at the performance at every station along the route – not just whether trains reach their destination on time. This shows a collective commitment by industry and Government to provide a service on which passengers can rely.
In response to crowding issues, West Midlands Trains have added extra carriages to the 0647, 0736, 0807, and 0836 departures from Great Malvern, and the 1550 service from Birmingham New Street to Hereford. West Midlands Trains will also retain the Class 153 units until the delivery of their new trains later in 2020. These carriages will provide extra capacity for customers at Great Malvern station. West Midlands Trains has advised us they intend to recruit additional traincrew to make service delivery more robust.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timescale is for the Office of Rail Regulation to approve the opening of Worcestershire Parkway station.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Worcestershire County Council and its rail industry partners agreed in December 2019 that the new Worcestershire Parkway station would become fully operational early this year. The Department understands that the date for this will be confirmed as soon as possible, and that the ORR authorisation process is currently underway.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what powers he has to require West Midlands Railway to compensate passengers for cancelled services.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Franchisees are contractually obliged under their Franchise Agreements to provide compensation to passengers in accordance with the National Rail Conditions of Carriage (NRCoC) and their Passenger’s Charter. All Franchise Agreements require Franchisees to pay the compensation for delays which passengers are entitled to.
West Midlands Railway’s Passenger’s Charter commits them to offer a Delay Repay scheme. This entitles customers holding valid tickets to compensation for delays of 15 minutes or more, regardless of the cause. The Passenger’s Charter was approved by the Secretary of State, and any future revisions to it must also achieve my consent.
The provisions within the Passenger’s Charter are enforced by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) as part of the railway licencing arrangements.