Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve East-West connectivity (a) in the Midlands and (b) nationwide.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The first phase of Midlands Rail Hub (‘Western’ scope) would enable additional trains each hour between Birmingham and South Wales and the South West, and on Birmingham’s Cross City Line. This includes extending Chiltern services from Moor Street to Snow Hill station by improving connectivity across the region.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.
Answered by Mike Kane
The Department has spent £212,027.69 on translation services since 2023 (this covers the period from 1st January 2023 to 18 July 2025). The table below outlines the split of costs by calendar year.
It should be noted that information is not held at the level requested.
Translation Services | Amount |
Calendar Year 2023 | £73,719.18 |
Calendar Year 2024 | £79,893.56 |
Calendar Year 2025 | £58,414.95 |
Total | £212,027.69 |
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 June 2025 to Question 60906 on Robin Hood Line: Standards, what proportion of trains on the Robin Hood Line were cancelled in each of the last six periods.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The table below shows that proportion of trains cancelled in the last six rail reporting periods:
Rail Period | All Robin Hood line services that were Cancelled |
2024/25 - P10 | 3.78% |
2024/25 - P11 | 1.40% |
2024/25 - P12 | 1.92% |
2024/25 - P13 | 1.55% |
2025/26 - P01 | 2.34% |
2025/26 - P02 | 1.31% |
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of trains were cancelled in the last six periods.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Information on train cancellations is published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) and can be found on their data portal.
Table 1 presents the proportion of planned services that were either partially or fully cancelled in Great Britain, for each of the last six rail periods and the same periods the previous year. Please note that partial cancellations as counted as 1 service, whilst partial cancellations are counted as 0.5.
Table 1. Periodic Cancellations score (Great Britain, Rail Periods1 11 – 3 in 2025 and 2024)
Rail period1 | Proportion of planned trains cancelled in 2025 (%) | Proportion of planned trains cancelled in 2024 (%) | pp change compared to last year |
5 Jan - 1 Feb 2025 (period 11) | 4.1 | 3.3 | +0.8 |
2 Feb - 1 Mar 2025 (period 12) | 3.1 | 3.2 | -0.1 |
2 Mar - 31 Mar 2025 (period 13) | 2.9 | 2.9 | 0.0 |
1 Apr - 26 Apr 2025 (period 01) | 2.9 | 3.2 | -0.3 |
27 Apr - 24 May 2025 (period 02) | 3.0 | 3.2 | -0.3 |
25 May - 21 Jun 2025 (period 03) | 3.4 | 3.8 | -0.4 |
Source: ORR Table 3124
https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/performance/passenger-rail-performance/table-3124-trains-planned-and-cancellations-by-operator-and-cause-periodic/
Notes:
1. The rail period dates in this table are for 2025. Dates for rail periods in 2024 differ by a maximum of 2 days but continue to broadly represent the same 4-week periods. More information on rail periods can be seen on the ORR data portal (https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/).
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help tackle train fare dodging.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Train Operating Companies are responsible for reducing fare evasion and are measured on this as part of their contractual obligations. We work closely with each operator to ensure they have robust plans in place.
Through the creation of Great British Railways (GBR), we’re bringing operators together to establish oversight and better standardise practices, putting an end to inconsistent prosecutions and making sure passengers are treated fairly.
We’re working at pace to simplify ticketing and developing plans for GBR to sell tickets online, to alleviate confusion and make it easier for people to buy the right fare.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing the bus fare cap to £2.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has made no assessment of reducing the bus fare cap to £2.
The Government is committed to ensuring bus travel remains affordable, and stepped in to prevent a cliff-edge return to commercial fares by investing over £150 million to introduce a £3 cap on single bus fares in England outside London from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, replacing the £2 cap.
Under the plans of the previous administration, the £2 cap on bus fares had been due to expire on 31 December 2024, and prior to the Autumn 2024 Budget, there was no further funding available to maintain a cap on bus fares beyond this point. Maintaining the cap at £2 for the entirety of 2025 would have cost an estimated £444 million. The £3 cap represents a significant saving for taxpayers whilst ensuring bus services remain affordable.
The Government reaffirmed its commitment to investing in bus services in the Spending Review by confirming additional funding to extend the £3 cap by over a year until March 2027 as part of dedicated funding to maintain and improve bus services long-term.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure the safety of women and girls on public transport.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is committed to ensuring everyone, including women and girls, is safe on the transport network. As part of our aim to reduce Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) by half over the next decade, we have an ambitious, evidence-based programme to help tackle VAWG on transport. This includes proposals in the Bus Services (No. 2) Bill, such as staff training on how to recognise and respond to incidents of criminal and anti-social behaviour.
The Department is also working across government and with partners, including the British Transport Police (BTP), the transport industry and local authorities, to ensure that everyone feels and is safe when travelling.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of trains arrived (a) on time and (b) within three minutes in the last six months.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The rail industry uses four-weekly rail periods rather than calendar months for reporting performance figures. The average punctuality over the most recent six rail periods, based on arrivals at all recorded station stops, and covering all operators in Great Britain between 8 December 2024 and 24 May 2025 is as follows:
On Time: 68.3%
Within 3 minutes: 85.9%.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 57342 on Robin Hood Line: Standards, how many rail replacement buses were used on the Robin Hood Line in the last six months.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Between 8 December 2024 and 24 May 2025, 87 rail replacement buses were used on the Robin Hood Line. 48 buses were for pre-planned engineering work which took place on 28 of the days, and 39 buses were used due to emergency or on the day disruptions on 21 days.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 57342 on Robin Hood Line: Standards, how many of the 11% of late trains on the Robin Hood Line in that period were cancelled.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Between 1 April and 26 April 2025, 89 per cent of all services for all stations on the Robin Hood Line arrived within three minutes of their schedule arrival time, 11 per cent arrived later than three minutes. Cancellations are measured separately as the train has not departed all stations, in the same time frame. 2.34 per cent of Robin Hood Line services were cancelled.