Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will issue guidance to Highways England and to highways authorities to ensure new and replacement cables and pipes are not placed under new roads and where possible diverted to verges and pavements on existing roads.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Local authorities are responsible for providing appropriate traffic management schemes for their roads. They are free to make their own decisions about the streets under their care, including junction design and operation, provided they take account of the relevant legislation. The Department has provided guidance to highway authorities on various types of junction design, including those mentioned here, in the form of the Traffic Signs Manual and other documents. Chapter 6 of the Traffic Signs Manual in particular provides guidance on various methods for traffic light control. It is for local authorities to decide which methods to use for the roads in their region.
Last year the Department consulted on a proposal to add a new condition to the set of national permit scheme conditions to require that activities placing new apparatus underground should, where possible and practical, be placed under the footway, footpath or verge. Concerns were raised in consultation responses that this would be unworkable, impractical and difficult to enforce, and would adversely impact pedestrians, especially older and disabled people. The Government therefore decided not to proceed with the proposal.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will issue new guidance to English Highways Authorities to install segregated right turning lanes at junctions on new and improved roads forming part of a strategic local road network.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Local authorities are responsible for providing appropriate traffic management schemes for their roads. They are free to make their own decisions about the streets under their care, including junction design and operation, provided they take account of the relevant legislation. The Department has provided guidance to highway authorities on various types of junction design, including those mentioned here, in the form of the Traffic Signs Manual and other documents. Chapter 6 of the Traffic Signs Manual in particular provides guidance on various methods for traffic light control. It is for local authorities to decide which methods to use for the roads in their region.
Last year the Department consulted on a proposal to add a new condition to the set of national permit scheme conditions to require that activities placing new apparatus underground should, where possible and practical, be placed under the footway, footpath or verge. Concerns were raised in consultation responses that this would be unworkable, impractical and difficult to enforce, and would adversely impact pedestrians, especially older and disabled people. The Government therefore decided not to proceed with the proposal.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will issue new guidance to English Highways Authorities to usually allow two way running on green at a light controlled road junction at the intersection of two roads with right filters.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Local authorities are responsible for providing appropriate traffic management schemes for their roads. They are free to make their own decisions about the streets under their care, including junction design and operation, provided they take account of the relevant legislation. The Department has provided guidance to highway authorities on various types of junction design, including those mentioned here, in the form of the Traffic Signs Manual and other documents. Chapter 6 of the Traffic Signs Manual in particular provides guidance on various methods for traffic light control. It is for local authorities to decide which methods to use for the roads in their region.
Last year the Department consulted on a proposal to add a new condition to the set of national permit scheme conditions to require that activities placing new apparatus underground should, where possible and practical, be placed under the footway, footpath or verge. Concerns were raised in consultation responses that this would be unworkable, impractical and difficult to enforce, and would adversely impact pedestrians, especially older and disabled people. The Government therefore decided not to proceed with the proposal.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has received on road traffic delays caused by poor junction design; and what steps is he taking to tackle poor junction design to improve traffic flows.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Local authorities are responsible for providing appropriate traffic management schemes for their roads. They are free to make their own decisions about the streets under their care, including junction design and operation, provided they take account of the relevant legislation. The Department has provided guidance to highway authorities on various types of junction design, including those mentioned here, in the form of the Traffic Signs Manual and other documents. Chapter 6 of the Traffic Signs Manual in particular provides guidance on various methods for traffic light control. It is for local authorities to decide which methods to use for the roads in their region.
Last year the Department consulted on a proposal to add a new condition to the set of national permit scheme conditions to require that activities placing new apparatus underground should, where possible and practical, be placed under the footway, footpath or verge. Concerns were raised in consultation responses that this would be unworkable, impractical and difficult to enforce, and would adversely impact pedestrians, especially older and disabled people. The Government therefore decided not to proceed with the proposal.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the latest recorded level of monthly fare revenues received by English train operating companies is; and how that data compares to the same revenues in January 2020.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Information on passenger ticket revenue is collected by LENNON, the rail industry ticket sales database. The data held within LENNON is provided to the Department on a commercially confidential basis and is not publicly available. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) publish aggregated information on passenger revenue from LENNON as a part of their quarterly rail usage statistics.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what additional funding from the public purse is planned to be made available to Network Rail in this financial year.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
My department is not planning to provide any additional funding to Network Rail above and beyond the budget allocated as part of the published Control Period 6 settlement.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether grant funding is available to local highway authorities to support the installation of traffic sensing lights to optimise flows at junctions.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Most UK signals are already traffic responsive in the way described. We have always encouraged local authorities to use responsive systems, as research has shown that where these are properly installed and maintained they can give significant benefits to all road users.
The Department provides block funding to local authorities for local transport, including traffic management, and it is for them to determine how this is best spent in their area.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to replace railway level crossings with bridges.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Network Rail, in its role as national rail infrastructure manager, is responsible for ensuring the safe operation of approximately 5,670 public level crossings on the rail network in Great Britain and for taking decisions on where crossings need to be closed and replaced with bridges or underpasses. Since 2009, it has closed 1,170 of the highest risk crossings on the network and has invested over £200 million to improve safety at other crossings, including deploying automatic barriers, miniature stop lights, CCTV and obstacle detection systems. During the period 2019-24, Network Rail will continue to target high risk level crossings and make improvements wherever possible. In addition to planned closures of high risk level crossings on the network, Network Rail intends to invest in new technologies, improving training for level crossing managers, and promoting public awareness campaigns for pedestrians and motorists.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of what constitutes a safe number of people travelling (a) on a bus and (b) in a train carriage during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
We have been working closely with operators to understand the limitations on passenger numbers. Capacity in a vehicle or carriage will vary depending on the specific type of bus or rail rolling stock. The 2 metre social distancing rule will leave effective capacity on public transport for 1 in 10 passengers on average compared to levels before the Coronavirus pandemic. Where it is not possible to maintain the recommended social distance, passengers are being advised to avoid physical contact, wear face coverings and wash or sanitise their hands as frequently as they can.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take to make it easier for people to drive to work while the use of public transport is restricted during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
New guidance published on 12 May 2020 provides advice on how passengers should make journeys safely, and to consider changing their travel habits - including cycling, walking as well as driving, following the publication of the Government’s roadmap and strategy for the next phase of the pandemic. The public have been urged to continue to work from home if they can. Those driving their own cars have been asked to avoid busy areas.
To help reduce pressure on the transport network so there is space for social distancing where possible, the Secretary of State has spoken to train and bus operators and local authorities to ensure they increase the number of available services over the coming weeks towards pre-COVID-19 levels as quickly and safely as possible.