Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what revenue has been raised by the Dart Charge in each year since 2015.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The revenue raised by Dart Charge for financial years 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 can be found in the Dart Charge annual accounts which can be found at:
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to pursue outstanding payments owed by the drivers of vehicles from non-UK EU Member States who have travelled through the Dartford tunnel.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Highways England are serious about tackling cases of evasion. They use an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system which is capable of capturing non-UK vehicle registration marks and they apply effective penalty and recovery processes that have been proven elsewhere, such as London’s congestion charging and Dublin’s M50 toll schemes. Ultimately a European debt recovery agency is used to pursue and recover outstanding charges from non-UK vehicles that evade paying the Crossing charge.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans take to reduce travel disruption caused by slow traffic through and around the Dartford Tunnel.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
In April, the Government committed £10 million to improve the traffic flow at and around the Dartford crossing. This was as part of the preferred route announcement for the new Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) which will help reduce demand at the Dartford Crossing, while also improving links to London and the south coast.
Alongside this, a Dartford - Thurrock study will identify ideas to reduce congestion that could be delivered in advance of the construction of the LTC. In addition, improvement work to M25 Junction 2 is due to start in Spring 2018 to help reduce congestion south of the Dartford crossing.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the new Thameslink twice-hourly fast service from Maidstone East, Otford and Swanley has been postponed until December 2019.
Answered by Paul Maynard
Learning lessons from previous major changes and to enable the industry to reduce the risk of disruption to passengers from too much change on the network at any one time, the Secretary of State for Transport asked Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) to propose options to reduce the risk of disruption to passengers from the introduction of the Thameslink timetable and operational changes. GTR’s proposal increases the number of services through central London more gradually than had been planned, beginning in May 2018 and ending in December 2019.
The changes have been selected as the best option to benefit the most passengers across the wider south east network. The new Thameslink services from Maidstone East will now be delivered in December 2019.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations his Department has made to Thameslink and Network Rail on the postponement of the new Thameslink service from Maidstone East, Otford and Swanley that was originally due from December 2018.
Answered by Paul Maynard
Learning lessons from previous major changes and to enable the industry to reduce the risk of disruption to passengers from too much change on the network at any one time, the Secretary of State for Transport asked Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) to propose options to reduce the risk of disruption to passengers from the introduction of the Thameslink timetable and operational changes. GTR’s proposal increases the number of services through central London more gradually than had been planned, beginning in May 2018 and ending in December 2019.
The changes have been selected as the best option to benefit the most passengers across the wider south east network. The new Thameslink services from Maidstone East will now be delivered in December 2019.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how he plans to ensure that rail operators achieve the planned full capacity on Thameslink services from Maidstone East, Otford and Swanley.
Answered by Paul Maynard
Learning lessons from previous major changes and to enable the industry to reduce the risk of disruption to passengers from too much change on the network at any one time, the Secretary of State for Transport asked Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) to propose options to reduce the risk of disruption to passengers from the introduction of the Thameslink timetable and operational changes. GTR’s proposal increases the number of services through central London more gradually than had been planned, beginning in May 2018 and ending in December 2019.
The changes have been selected as the best option to benefit the most passengers across the wider south east network. The new Thameslink services from Maidstone East will now be delivered in December 2019.