Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains Govia Thameslink Railway cancelled between the end of April and late July 2016; and what proportion of those cancellations were due to official industrial action.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Govia Thameslink Railway have submitted a force majeure claim for official and unofficial industrial action undertaken by drivers and conductors on Southern services. At present we cannot provide this information as we are currently finishing our assessment of the claim for the first three railway periods since the action started.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the planning by train operating companies to ensure availability of conductors or guards on train services to mitigate against delays or cancellations of train services.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department monitors the effective delivery of train services by operators against the obligations in their franchise agreements, including those in relation to delays and cancellations. However, how operators plan to meet those obligations is an operational matter for them, and the Department does not specifically assess their plans for ensuring the availability of traincrew. I would note however that Driver Controlled Operation removes the frustration of trains being delayed or cancelled as a result of no guard being available because, for example, they have been delayed on another service.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) franchise agreement that stipulates as to whether it is in default of its franchise agreement for cancellations relates to (a) GTR as a whole, (b) Thameslink, Southern, Gatwick Express and Great Northern individually or (c) is at the discretion of the Secretary of State.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
GTR’s performance is assessed across the whole franchise. If found in breach or default, it would be at the Secretary of State’s discretion to make a decision on next steps, according to provisions in the franchise agreement.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the actual level of cancellations was compared to the default threshold cancellation level for the southern section of the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) franchise, as amended by the GTR remedial plan, for each monthly period since the beginning of 2016.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
GTR’s benchmarks are based on the entire franchise, not each component business group – we do not have that information to that level of disaggregation.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the actual number of train cancellations was compared to the default threshold number of train cancellations for the southern section of the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) franchise as amended by the GTR remedial plan for each monthly period since the beginning of 2016.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
GTR’s benchmarks are based on the entire franchise, not each component business group – we do not have that information to that level of disaggregation.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the actual percentage level of cancellations was compared to the default percentage threshold cancellation level for the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) franchise, as amended by the GTR remedial plan, for each monthly period since the beginning of 2016.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The performance benchmarks are calculated as a percentage on a moving annual average basis. This is to ensure that an operator’s performance is measured over the long term and not impacted by short term issues. Therefore a comparison of the number of cancellations for each period against a percentage-based annual benchmark is misleading.
We have attached the latest position against the Remedial Plan benchmarks in the table below. Cancellations are in excess of default levels. GTR has submitted a force majeure claim for official and unofficial industrial action undertaken by drivers and conductors on Southern services. The outcome of our assessment of their force majeure claim will determine GTR's performance level.
Railway period | Period dates | Actual (%) | Default (%) |
2015/16_P10 | 13 Dec to 09 Jan 2016 | 1.80 | 2.71 |
2015/16_P11 | 10 Jan to 06 Feb 2016 | 1.84 | 2.70 |
2015/16_P12 | 07 Feb to 05 Mar 2016 | 1.91 | 2.71 |
2015/16_P13 | 06 Mar to 31 Mar 2016 | 1.95 | 2.71 |
2016/17_P01 | 01 Apr to 30 Apr 2016 | 1.98 | 2.73 |
2016/17_P02 | 01 May to 28 May 2016 | 2.21 | 2.73 |
2016/17_P03 | 29 May to 25 Jun 2016 | 2.84 | 2.73 |
2016/17_P04 | 26 Jun to 23 Jul 2016 | 3.44 | 2.75 |
2016/17_P05 | 24 Jul to 20 Aug 2016 | 4.15 | 2.75 |
2016/17_P06 | 21 Aug to 17 Sep 2016 | 4.75 | 2.75 |
2016/17_P07 | 18 Sep to 15 Oct 2016 | 5.19 | 2.69 |
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the actual number of train cancellations was compared to the default threshold number of train cancellations for the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) franchise, as amended by the GTR remedial plan, for each monthly period since the beginning of 2016.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The performance benchmarks are calculated as a percentage on a moving annual average basis. This is to ensure that an operator’s performance is measured over the long term and not impacted by short term issues. Therefore a comparison of the number of cancellations for each period against a percentage-based annual benchmark is misleading.
We have attached the latest position against the Remedial Plan benchmarks in the table below. Cancellations are in excess of default levels. GTR has submitted a force majeure claim for official and unofficial industrial action undertaken by drivers and conductors on Southern services. The outcome of our assessment of their force majeure claim will determine GTR's performance level.
Railway period | Period dates | Actual (%) | Default (%) |
2015/16_P10 | 13 Dec to 09 Jan 2016 | 1.80 | 2.71 |
2015/16_P11 | 10 Jan to 06 Feb 2016 | 1.84 | 2.70 |
2015/16_P12 | 07 Feb to 05 Mar 2016 | 1.91 | 2.71 |
2015/16_P13 | 06 Mar to 31 Mar 2016 | 1.95 | 2.71 |
2016/17_P01 | 01 Apr to 30 Apr 2016 | 1.98 | 2.73 |
2016/17_P02 | 01 May to 28 May 2016 | 2.21 | 2.73 |
2016/17_P03 | 29 May to 25 Jun 2016 | 2.84 | 2.73 |
2016/17_P04 | 26 Jun to 23 Jul 2016 | 3.44 | 2.75 |
2016/17_P05 | 24 Jul to 20 Aug 2016 | 4.15 | 2.75 |
2016/17_P06 | 21 Aug to 17 Sep 2016 | 4.75 | 2.75 |
2016/17_P07 | 18 Sep to 15 Oct 2016 | 5.19 | 2.69 |
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the non-availability of conductors or guards on train service delays.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has made no quantified assessment of these effects, as the rail industry reporting available to the Department on delays caused by train crew does not differentiate between the potential reasons behind those delays. However the Department is aware from discussions with train operators that the non-availability of conductors and guards can be a significant contributor to such delays.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of claims of force majeure made by Govia Thameslink Rail are related to (a) official industrial and (b) unofficial action.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Due to the unprecedented scale of disruption to passengers, that has been caused by the unwarranted union action, Govia Thameslink Railway have been unable to separate the claims of force majeure in this way, and therefore have made a single force majeure claim in respect of official and unofficial industrial action.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Govia Thameslink Railway trains have been short formed in the last 12 months.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not specify to GTR how long every train must be and therefore does not hold this information. It is for each operator to use all reasonable endeavours to operate with sufficient capacity to meet passenger requirements. The Department incorporates a Peak Short Formation benchmark within GTR’s financial incentive regime, which measures the capacity delivered when the network is busiest.
We have attached the latest position against the contractual benchmarks in the table below. Whilst Peak Short formations appear to be in excess of default levels, GTR has submitted a force majeure claim for official and unofficial industrial action undertaken by drivers and conductors on Southern services. The outcome of our assessment of their force majeure claim will determine GTR's performance level.
Railway period | Period dates | Actual (%) | Default (%) |
2015/16_P08 | 18 Oct to 14 Nov 2015 | 0.77 | 1.11 |
2015/16_P09 | 15 Nov to 12 Dec 2015 | 0.77 | 1.18 |
2015/16_P10 | 13 Dec to 09 Jan 2016 | 0.82 | 1.28 |
2015/16_P11 | 10 Jan to 06 Feb 2016 | 0.90 | 1.34 |
2015/16_P12 | 07 Feb to 05 Mar 2016 | 1.00 | 1.39 |
2015/16_P13 | 06 Mar to 31 Mar 2016 | 1.05 | 1.44 |
2016/17_P01 | 01 Apr to 30 Apr 2016 | 1.08 | 1.47 |
2016/17_P02 | 01 May to 28 May 2016 | 1.13 | 1.51 |
2016/17_P03 | 29 May to 25 Jun 2016 | 1.41 | 1.55 |
2016/17_P04 | 26 Jun to 23 Jul 2016 | 1.69 | 1.59 |
2016/17_P05 | 24 Jul to 20 Aug 2016 | 1.77 | 1.58 |
2016/17_P06 | 21 Aug to 17 Sep 2016 | 1.92 | 1.58 |
2016/17_P07 | 18 Sep to 15 Oct 2016 | 1.99 | 1.58 |