Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will commission the Behavioural Insights Team to conduct research on efficiency and passenger journeys in the rail sector.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has recently commissioned the Behavioural Insights Team to deliver a programme of workshops on the use of behavioural insights research in policy making, including rail passenger experience. In addition, the Department is currently exploring a range of behavioural insight approaches as part of its wider programme of rail research.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to inform rail commuters of the protections available to them under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is the responsibility of train operators, as service providers, to ensure that their customers are made aware of their rights to compensation or other redress in cases of service failure or disruption. Train operators’ existing compensation schemes will continue to provide the main means of redress for passengers after 1 October 2016, when the Consumer Rights Act came into force for all transport providers.
Information about the Consumer Rights Act is widely available from the Citizens Advice Consumer Service, consumer organisations and government websites.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to establish a body with the remit of ensuring that the rights of public transport users are protected.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government remains committed to safeguarding the interests of public transport users, doing so (in addition to the work of the DfT) primarily through the following three bodies:
The Government remains open-minded to considering any alternatives as to how these arrangements could be further improved in the future.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on introducing automatic compensation for rail users whose trains arrive late.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The majority of train operators now operate the Delay Repay scheme and we are continuing to roll this out to all train operators through refranchising and / or as opportunities arise.
It is important that claims can be made easily and that passengers are made aware of their rights. This can be supported by automated systems that notify passengers when they are eligible to claim and electronic claims forms.
Some train operators have introduced fully automatic Delay Repay compensation: Virgin Trains West Coast for Advance tickets purchased through the operator’s website or app for registered passengers, and by c2c for all passengers with a registered c2c Smartcard. This is feasible when the passenger has a ticket for a specific train purchased from the operator or a smartcard.
Northern, TransPennine Express and East Anglia are also planning to introduce fully automatic compensation for certain passengers who buy Advance or Season tickets.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of automated ticket machines in ensuring that rail commuters are always offered the lowest fare.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Rail passengers should always be able to get the best deal and the industry must work harder to make this a reality. Train operators have made some improvements and passengers are benefiting from better on-screen information at some stations but there has got to be improvement right across the network. I have raised this with the Rail Delivery Group that represents all train operating companies as there is clearly more to be done.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) have plans to undertake customer focused research and analysis of ticket vending machines with findings and next steps to be published in Spring 2017. This follows their recent Annual Rail Consumer Report (June 2016), which identified issues with existing ticket vending machines. We support this work by the ORR in its role as consumer regulator and will continue to challenge the industry to address the issues and make improvements as soon as possible.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made in implementing smart ticketing across the rail network; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We want smart tickets to be available to passengers across the entire rail network providing them with more convenience and choice. By the end of the year the South East Flexible Ticketing programme will have introduced smart ticketing on five of the major London and south east rail operators. In the North of England, we have committed £150m to support Transport for the North (TfN) in its plans to introduce smart ticketing.
The Rail Delivery Group have brought the rail industry together to agree a long-term vision and it is critical that rail operators collaborate and share ideas to make this vision a reality. Through franchising competitions we are supporting the rail industry to develop and deliver modernised ticketing by setting challenging requirements for bidders, ensuring that customers benefit from a 21st century option. Many rail travellers are familiar with using the orange magnetic stripe ticket and I will ensure that this is not withdrawn until alternatives are in place that offer a user experience with which all travellers are comfortable, particularly vulnerable customer groups.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department has provided for projects in Swindon since 2010.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The table attached lists the funding the Department for Transport has provided for projects in Swindon since 2010:
The Department is unable to disaggregate the specific investment on the rail network or the Strategic Road Network in Swindon.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many drivers under the age of 24 were injured in a road accident in each of the last five years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The total number of drivers and riders of motorised vehicles (including motorcycle riders) aged under 24 who were a) killed or b) injured in road traffic accidents that were reported to the police between 2009 and 2013 are given in the table below.
Year | Killed | Injured |
2009 | 254 | 29,078 |
2010 | 213 | 25,342 |
2011 | 191 | 24,207 |
2012 | 188 | 22,328 |
2013 | 191 | 20,003 |
These figures do not include any pedal cyclist, horse rider, pedestrian or vehicle passenger casualties.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many drivers under the age of 24 were killed in a road accident in each of the last five years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The total number of drivers and riders of motorised vehicles (including motorcycle riders) aged under 24 who were a) killed or b) injured in road traffic accidents that were reported to the police between 2009 and 2013 are given in the table below.
Year | Killed | Injured |
2009 | 254 | 29,078 |
2010 | 213 | 25,342 |
2011 | 191 | 24,207 |
2012 | 188 | 22,328 |
2013 | 191 | 20,003 |
These figures do not include any pedal cyclist, horse rider, pedestrian or vehicle passenger casualties.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward proposals to ensure that all new buses across the UK are installed with audio-visual announcements; and what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the results of the All Aboard Competition run by his Department.
Answered by John Hayes
The Department for Transport understands the social benefits of having audio and visual announcement systems on buses, and we are keen to encourage operators and local authorities to invest in this technology, where possible.
However, there is a need to be realistic about the cost of installing and maintaining this technology and the financial burden this could place on smaller, local bus operators. We therefore have no plans to make these systems mandatory on all new buses.
The ‘All Aboard’ technology competition was launched by my noble colleague, the Minister of State for Transport, Baroness Kramer, on 24th October 2014 and will challenge our talented students around the country to come up with cost-effective ideas about how to provide passengers with accessible on-board information. The competition will run until February 13th 2015 and its outcome will be considered after this date.