Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 April 2018 to Question 135108 on Govia Thameslink Railway: Compensation, how much compensation (a) has been paid and (b) is due to be paid to his Department by Network Rail.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
We do not know how much compensation has been paid to DfT so far by NR as a result of these additional works as Schedule 4 payments cover all possessions not just the additional £300m works. However, the value in relation to the £300m works to date will be minimal as Network Rail have accounted for a total of £1.53m in Schedule 4 compensation during the financial year 2017/18 (in relation to c£45m of works). This Schedule 4 figure covers all operators affected (eg Southeastern) and includes both the loss of revenue and cost elements.
As the £300m is being used for a number of schemes which have yet to be completed, the amount of compensation due to be paid is as yet unknown.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2018 to Question 133572, whether any funding allocated by his Department to Network Rail for improvement works on the Southern and Thameslink networks will be paid back to his Department in compensation for disruption during those works.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
Compensation is paid by Network Rail to Train Operating Companies for planned disruption on the network (Schedule 4 Payments). No compensation will be paid to Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) as a result of the works referred to in Question 133572 although it will receive some of the money to pay for additional costs it may incur as a result of the disruption to passengers, for example bus replacement services – according to usual industry processes.
For other franchises, some compensation would normally be paid to franchisees to reflect the loss of revenue resulting from the engineering work impact. Again this is part of standard industry practice. For the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) franchise, as the Department for Transport takes revenue risk, this compensation will be paid to the Department.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the £300 million allocated by his Department to Network Rail for improvement works on the Southern and Thameslink networks will be paid to Govia Thameslink Railway in compensation for disruption during those works.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
No compensation will be paid to Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR). Some of the money will be used to pay for additional costs incurred by GTR as a result of the disruption to passengers, for example bus replacement services – according to usual industry processes. For other franchises, some compensation would normally be paid to franchisees to reflect the loss of revenue resulting from the engineering work impact. Again this is part of standard industry practice. For the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) franchise, as the Department for Transport takes revenue risk, this compensation will not be paid to GTR.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the value of the revenues paid to his Department were under the management contract for the (a) Thameslink, (b) Southern and (c) Great Northern parts of the franchise in each year since 2014.
Answered by Paul Maynard
These figures are published annually in the Go Ahead group accounts at:
https://www.go-ahead.com/en/investors/results-reports-presentations.html
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the net difference was between the payments made by his Department under Govia Thameslink Railway's management contract for the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise and the fare revenues paid to his Department through that franchise in each year since 2014.
Answered by Paul Maynard
These figures published annually by the Office of Rail and Road at:
https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/95218cca-408d-4047-83ce-a542c53b59e6
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the value of fines per year imposed on Govia Thameslink Rail were in respect of the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise since the launch of that franchise in 2014.
Answered by Paul Maynard
Penalties of £2.3m were imposed in the first year of the franchise for GTR's performance against Cancellations and Peak Short Formations benchmarks. In July 2017, GTR agreed to fund a package of performance and passenger improvements worth £13.4m. This included, contractual penalties of £2.4m for GTR’s performance for the year September 2015 to September 2016, and a settlement of the performance regime for the next two years (September 2016 – September 2018 of £5m for each year).
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps (a) his Department and (b) Network Rail are taking to ease peak-time overcrowding for Brighton Main Line passengers on platforms 15-19 at London Victoria.
Answered by Paul Maynard
Network Rail are working on a programme of improvements across the station including additional electronic signage, mobility assistance, additional seating and new information pods. Network Rail are also working with the Department on long term plans to improve passenger flows and reduce peak time crowding.