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Written Question
Roads: Safety
Thursday 14th December 2023

Asked by: James Morris (Conservative - Halesowen and Rowley Regis)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help improve the safety of residential roads.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

We have some of the safest roads in the world, but we are not complacent.

The Department for Transport provides guidance to LTAs on various traffic management measures which impact road safety. A collection of these can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-transport-notes.

Guidance provided by the Department for LTAs is kept updated to maintain the highest road safety standards possible. The responsibility for making decisions about the roads under its care, including measures to improve the safety of residential roads, sits with the relevant Local Traffic Authority (LTA).


Written Question
Railways: Standards
Wednesday 8th May 2019

Asked by: James Morris (Conservative - Halesowen and Rowley Regis)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many direct train services there were per day between (a) Edinburgh, (b) Glasgow, (c) Newcastle, (d) Birmingham, (e) Nottingham, (f) Derby, (g) Peterborough, (h) Norwich, (i) Portsmouth, (j) Southampton, (k) Preston, (l) Stoke-on-Trent, (m) Leeds, (n) Sheffield, (o) Liverpool and London in (A) the year before privatisation of the railways and (B) the last financial year.

Answered by Andrew Jones

The Department does not hold the specific information requested. However, industry figures from the Rail Delivery Group suggest that the number of planned train services per year has increased from 5.69 million in 1997-98 to 7.30 million in 2016/17. The industry also cites some specific examples of increased services on routes to London, such as Manchester to London increasing from 17 trains per day in 1994 to 47 in 2016, and the number of trains from London to Sheffield increasing from 15 per day in 1994 to 31 in 2016.

In relation to the number of seats, According to the Rail Delivery Group, there were 10,400 vehicles in passenger use in 1996/97 compared to 14,025 as at March 2018, an increase of over 3,500 vehicles or nearly 35%. This additional fleet capacity is helping to lengthen trains and contribute towards the thousands of extra rail services each week.


Written Question
Railways: Standards
Wednesday 8th May 2019

Asked by: James Morris (Conservative - Halesowen and Rowley Regis)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many seats on direct train services there were per day between (a) Edinburgh, (b) Glasgow, (c) Newcastle, (d) Birmingham, (e) Nottingham, (f) Derby, (g) Peterborough, (h) Norwich, (i) Portsmouth, (j) Southampton, (k) Preston, (l) Stoke-on-Trent, (m) Leeds, (n) Sheffield, (o) Liverpool and London in (A) the year before privatisation of the railways and (B) the last financial year.

Answered by Andrew Jones

The Department does not hold the specific information requested. However, industry figures from the Rail Delivery Group suggest that the number of planned train services per year has increased from 5.69 million in 1997-98 to 7.30 million in 2016/17. The industry also cites some specific examples of increased services on routes to London, such as Manchester to London increasing from 17 trains per day in 1994 to 47 in 2016, and the number of trains from London to Sheffield increasing from 15 per day in 1994 to 31 in 2016.

In relation to the number of seats, According to the Rail Delivery Group, there were 10,400 vehicles in passenger use in 1996/97 compared to 14,025 as at March 2018, an increase of over 3,500 vehicles or nearly 35%. This additional fleet capacity is helping to lengthen trains and contribute towards the thousands of extra rail services each week.


Written Question
Railways: Operating Costs
Wednesday 8th May 2019

Asked by: James Morris (Conservative - Halesowen and Rowley Regis)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the net cost to the public purse was of subsidising the running of services not including enhancements or repairs on the railways in (a) the year before privatisation and (b) the last financial year in (i) cash terms and (ii) real terms at prices in the last financial year.

Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)

In 2017-18, train operating companies provided a net premium of £0.2 billion to central government. In 1993-94, train operating companies received a net subsidy of £0.9 billion in nominal terms (£1.5 billion in real terms) from central government.

For additional information on train operating companies net premiums and subsidies please refer to the Office of Rail and Road data at the link below:

http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/a830de20-83bf-408d-9c22-7f3ec23999f9


Written Question
Rolling Stock: Procurement
Monday 18th March 2019

Asked by: James Morris (Conservative - Halesowen and Rowley Regis)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many new pieces of rolling stock have been ordered by Train Operating Companies or their suppliers in each year between 1997 and 2019.

Answered by Andrew Jones

The number of new carriages ordered by Train Operating Companies in each complete year between 1997 and 2018 is:

Year

Carriages

1997

458

1998

937

1999

550

2000

145

2001

1014

2002

1012

2003

329

2004

120

2005

180

2006

220

2007

303

2008

332

2009

120

2010

0

2011

130

2012

716

2013

1583

2014

1077

2015

582

2016

1875

2017

1431

2018

379


Written Question
Railways: Passengers
Thursday 7th March 2019

Asked by: James Morris (Conservative - Halesowen and Rowley Regis)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of rail passenger numbers for each of the last 30 years.

Answered by Andrew Jones

The Office of Rail and Road publish the total number of rail passenger journeys within Great Britain each year. The number of journeys in each of the last 30 years is provided in the table below:

Number of franchised passenger journeys (millions)

Financial year

Total passenger journeys (millions)

1988-89

822.0

1989-90

812.0

1990-91

810.0

1991-92

792.0

1992-93

770.0

1993-94

740.0

1994-95

735.1

1995-96

761.2

1996-97

800.2

1997-98

845.7

1998-99

891.9

1999-00

931.0

2000-01

956.6

2001-02

959.6

2002-03

975.5

2003-04

1,011.7

2004-05

1,039.5

2005-06

1,076.5

2006-07

1,145.0

2007-08

1,218.1

2008-09

1,266.5

2009-10

1,257.9

2010-11

1,353.8

2011-12

1,460.0

2012-13

1,500.9

2013-14

1,586.5

2014-15

1,653.7

2015-16

1,715.9

2016-17

1,729.1

2017-18

1,705.5

Notes: This data does not include Heathrow Express, Eurostar, non-franchised operators, underground or light rail services.

Additional years are available at the following link:

http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/02136399-b0c5-4d91-a85e-c01f8a48e07e


Written Question
Roads: Horse Riding
Tuesday 5th December 2017

Asked by: James Morris (Conservative - Halesowen and Rowley Regis)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking better to protect horse riders on public highways; and if he will take steps to strengthen provisions within the Highway Code relating to how motorists should drive in the vicinity of horses.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The Department, through the THINK! Branded Road Safety Campaign, worked with the British Horse Society (BHS) to support its “Dead Slow” campaign to encourage car drivers to pass horses safely, and the ‘Horse Rider’ section on the THINK! Website has been updated to reflect the partnership with the BHS.

On 4 July, there was a Westminster Hall Debate on: ‘the Safety of Riders and Horses on Rural Roads’, in which these issues were more fully debated.

The driving theory test contains questions about how drivers should interact with vulnerable road users, including horse riders; and the hazard perception test includes a number of clips where horse riders are the hazard, either directly or indirectly.

The Highway Code provides advice to motorists about vulnerable road users such as horse riders and Rule 215 provides advice specifically on passing horse riders safely.

When the Department next reviews The Highway Code, any proposed changes will be subject to public consultation.