Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons his Department has not implemented the proposal by Transport Focus for continuous rail passenger interviewing.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Whilst Transport Focus provided the Department with a proposal for a move to continuous National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) fieldwork in 2017, the costs of the options provided were prohibitive at that time.
The rail industry does not rely solely on the NRPS and since 2017, the Department has been working with industry to develop a wider range of evidence to understand and improve rail performance, including more continuous measurement of passenger views and experience.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the Office for Statistics Regulation’s conclusion that Transport Focus should extend engagement on National Passenger Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) to a broader range of users to ensure that different user perspectives are fed into the future development of the NRPS statistics.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Department welcomes the Office for Statistics Regulation report and will work with Transport Focus to help it meet the recommendations set out in the report.
Transport Focus has published its plan to address the OSR recommendations, available here: https://www.transportfocus.org.uk/research-publications/publications/action-plan-for-nrps/
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that the National Rail Passenger Survey collects data on passenger support for the presence of on-train and station staff.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) collects information on passenger satisfaction with rail services, including satisfaction with various aspects of the service currently delivered by staff. The NRPS would not be the appropriate survey to ask about support for the presence of staff given it is focussed on specific journeys, rather than general attitudes to rail. However, this is an important area, and Transport Focus has itself carried out other research on this topic, for example, https://www.transportfocus.org.uk/research-publications/publications/passenger-attitudes-towards-rail-staff/.
The NRPS collects data on the experiences of disabled rail passengers via a special module of questions every Autumn wave. This data is available to view and download from the Transport Focus data hub on the Transport Focus website. My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State has been clear that he wants the railways to lead the way on accessible travel.
The NRPS doesn’t collect data on any rail non-users (people who do not currently travel by rail). The Department, however, is exploring the option of collecting experience and satisfaction data on rail non-users, including disabled rail non-users, as part of its wider programme of research on passenger experience.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that the National Rail Passenger Survey includes questions on the accessibility of railways for disabled people that (a) travel by rail and (b) do not currently travel by rail.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) collects information on passenger satisfaction with rail services, including satisfaction with various aspects of the service currently delivered by staff. The NRPS would not be the appropriate survey to ask about support for the presence of staff given it is focussed on specific journeys, rather than general attitudes to rail. However, this is an important area, and Transport Focus has itself carried out other research on this topic, for example, https://www.transportfocus.org.uk/research-publications/publications/passenger-attitudes-towards-rail-staff/.
The NRPS collects data on the experiences of disabled rail passengers via a special module of questions every Autumn wave. This data is available to view and download from the Transport Focus data hub on the Transport Focus website. My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State has been clear that he wants the railways to lead the way on accessible travel.
The NRPS doesn’t collect data on any rail non-users (people who do not currently travel by rail). The Department, however, is exploring the option of collecting experience and satisfaction data on rail non-users, including disabled rail non-users, as part of its wider programme of research on passenger experience.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the finding by the Office for Statistics Regulation published on 8 January 2020 that there is a substantial risk of misinterpretation and misuse of the results of the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) by using a journey-based approach, what steps his Department plans to take to review how the results of the NRPS are used in the (a) award and (b) review processes for rail franchising.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Department welcomes the Office for Statistics Regulation report and will work with Transport Focus to help it meet the recommendations set out in the report.
Transport Focus has published its plan to address the OSR recommendations, available here: https://www.transportfocus.org.uk/research-publications/publications/action-plan-for-nrps/
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to build a bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Answered by Grant Shapps
The previous Secretary of State met with DUP MP’s to discuss the proposals. Subsequently, officials provided advice to both the previous and current Secretary of State on the options available to facilitate a feasibility study.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times Thameslink Service trains ran without a second member of staff and stopped at unstaffed or part-time staffed stations in 2018.
Answered by Grant Shapps
The Department does not hold this information. Govia Thameslink Railway, the operator of Thameslink services, has procedures in place for instances where a service operating without a second member of staff on board calls at an unstaffed station. For passengers who require assistance, there are a range of measures in place depending on the type of assistance that is required and the specific station. These measures are set out in Thameslink’s Disabled Persons Protection Policy (DPPP) which is available through this link: https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/travel-information/travel-help/assisted-travel/disabled-persons-protection-policy.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of (a) driver controlled operation and (b) stations which are unstaffed or staffed part-time on accessibility for disabled people who wish to travel without pre-booking on Southern Railways.
Answered by Grant Shapps
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) and the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) have both confirmed that the driver operating the doors is a safe method of working. It is vital that train operators have policies in place so that passengers with disabilities are able to travel with confidence. ORR is the organisation which is responsible for the approval and monitoring of operators’ Disabled People’s Protection Policies (DPPP). Following the introduction of driver-controlled operation on Southern, ORR carried out a period of enhanced monitoring to ensure that policies were in place on Southern so that disabled passengers, regardless of whether they had pre-booked assistance or chose to travel spontaneously, and regardless of whether they were travelling to a staffed or unstaffed station, were able to complete their journey. ORR concluded that GTR had provided assurance that it has the systems and processes in place for this purpose. ORR continues to monitor operators’ compliance with their DPPP, and the Department supports it in doing so.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2019 to Question 230103 on Southern Railways, what proportion of the trains cancelled due to there being no conductor was due to (a) official and (b) alleged unofficial industrial action.
Answered by Grant Shapps
The Department does not hold information on the reasons why a conductor was not available to operate those services.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on driver controlled operation on Southern Rail services.
Answered by Grant Shapps
The operation of services is a matter for the operator and they are generally best placed to respond to queries regarding practices like driver-controlled operation.