Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish a minimum service pattern for the East Midlands rail franchise.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
A minimum service pattern for the train services on the East Midlands rail franchise will be published in April 2018, alongside the Invitation to Tender and Stakeholder Briefing Document. It cannot be published before this date, because the analysis of the public consultation response needs to be considered to determine the final minimum service pattern.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to incentivise train users to use Thameslink services to alleviate over-crowding on all East Midlands services to and from London.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government and rail industry are investing in the biggest improvement in rail travel since the Victorian era, including through the Thameslink Programme and the upgrade of the Midland Main Line.
These programmes will improve rail journeys for passengers using the Midland Main Line to travel into London St Pancras:
o From May 2018, passengers between Bedford and London will benefit from more frequent Thameslink trains, with more seats.
o The Thameslink programme will also provide improved connections from Bedford to Farringdon for Crossrail as well as London Bridge.
o Once the electrification to Corby is complete in 2020, passengers at Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford, Luton and Luton Airport Parkway will benefit from a new, dedicated service into London St Pancras. The electric trains will be longer, with more seats.
The rail industry is working together to do all we can to improve services for passengers and will to work hard to keep disruption to a minimum.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made on the number of passengers using East Midlands train service (a) peak-time north-bound, (b) off-peak north-bound, (c) peak-time south-bound and (d) off-peak south-bound from Bedford in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are no published statistics on the annual number of passengers travelling on East Midlands train services from Bedford over the past 10 years.
Passenger rail usage statistics for train operators are available on the Office of Rail and Road data portal at the following link: http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/browsereports/12.
Estimates of Station Usage gives annual totals for all passengers entering and exiting each station on Great Britain’s rail network, and is available on the Office of Rail and Road data portal at the following link:
http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/station-usage-estimates
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to stipulate a minimum journey time from Bedford to London after the grant of the East Midlands train franchise.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No firm decision on rail services in the next East Midlands franchise has yet been taken. The next franchise starts in August 2019. Invitations to Tender are due to be issued to potential bidders in April 2018. All options for rail services in the next franchise are subject to analysis of the potential benefits and our consultation with stakeholders, which closed on 11 October.