Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to support the transport sector in preparing for the introduction of the EU Entry/Exit System.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department is working closely with the transport sector, as well as the haulage and logistics sectors, to ensure that they are prepared for EES, and will be engaging with their passengers and members to ensure awareness.
The Government has been working particularly closely with the UK’s juxtaposed portals where the EES collection and verification are undertaken, along with the French Government on ensuring there are robust plans in place for EU implementation at these portals. This includes looking at additional Government funding to support these portals given the specific challenges they face.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to take steps to help increase public awareness of the EU Entry/Exit System.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department is working closely with the transport sector, as well as the haulage and logistics sectors, to ensure that they are prepared for EES, and will be engaging with their passengers and members to ensure awareness.
The Government has been working particularly closely with the UK’s juxtaposed portals where the EES collection and verification are undertaken, along with the French Government on ensuring there are robust plans in place for EU implementation at these portals. This includes looking at additional Government funding to support these portals given the specific challenges they face.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 April 2024 to Question 20728 on Motor Vehicles: Lighting, when his Department plans to commission independent research on LED headlights.
Answered by Anthony Browne
The Government is currently working to commission the independent research into headlamp glare with the expectation that it will commence in advance of the summer recess and report back within 12 months.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the policy paper entitled Network North, published on 4 October 2023, how many and what proportion of the Network North projects had been allocated funding before September 2023.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Funding from Network North will go to a combination of projects including additional funding to existing work, restarting important work that had previously been paused, and to new projects and schemes that are being developed, as set out in the announcement. Many schemes included in Network North have been announced, with projects due to be delivered at various times over the next decade and beyond. Further information is available on the government website. For example:
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to support the long-term sustainability of the rail manufacturing sector.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Government is committed to supporting a thriving UK-based rolling stock industry. The Department for Transport works closely with rolling stock owners and train operators to understand when new trains are likely to be required and seeks to ensure a regular flow of work for train manufacturers. Trains are major assets with a lifetime of 35-40 years so there will naturally be peaks and troughs in procurement cycles.
Since 2012, train operators have invested in around 8,000 new vehicles for the mainline railway in Great Britain. Despite the impacts of the Covid pandemic, there is now a strong domestic UK market for rolling stock procurement. Over 2,000 new vehicles are expected to be procured over the next few years, providing £3.6 billion of opportunities for train manufacturers. Rolling stock owners also continue to invest heavily in their fleets, with several major upgrades currently underway.
In January 2024, I wrote to train manufacturers to outline the pipeline of current and expected orders for new trains. This included details of current competitions for Northern, SouthEastern, Chiltern, TransPennine Express and an expected procurement by Great Western Railway.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the number of train cancellations in Q3 of 2023-24.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Performance varies across the network and is dependent on both reliable infrastructure and strong operator performance. Where we have both, as on Anglia, passengers enjoy great performance and I’m clear this is the standard for all operators to achieve working with their Network Rail route counterparts. I regularly meet Network Rail and train operators to encourage greater collaboration on day-to-day performance including convening a rail industry summit in March.
Reforming and modernising the railway is essential to delivering a more reliable rail network that is financially sustainable and improves the experience for passengers. Outdated working practices, like relying on voluntary overtime to run trains every day of the week, increases the likelihood of cancellations and prevents passengers getting the service they pay for and deserve.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to provide funding for the construction of an HS2 tunnel to Euston station.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Government remains committed to delivering a privately financed HS2 Euston station as part of a transformed ‘Euston Quarter’ outlined in the Network North paper. The Department continues to define and develop a range of development models and financing mechanisms to best meet the objectives of the ‘Euston Quarter’. This includes consideration of options for using alternative funding to cover the section of HS2 from Old Oak Common to Euston, underpinned by contributions from those people and businesses this development supports.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the rail sector on timetable changes proposed for the East Coast Main Line.
Answered by Huw Merriman
I met with the rail industry to discuss the delay to the upgrade timetable and how the improvements can be delivered as soon as possible.
I have made clear the importance of Network Rail continuing to develop a process for eventually delivering this timetable and realising the benefits of £4 billion investment in infrastructure and rolling stock on the route.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help simplify the rail ticketing system.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Plan for Rail proposes the biggest shake-up of rail in a generation. We have already made progress on fares and ticketing reforms, for example introducing flexible season tickets, expanding single leg pricing to most of London North Eastern Railway’s (LNER) network and committing to Pay As You Go (PAYG) in urban areas across the country.
In February we announced that PAYG pilots in both Manchester and the West Midlands are due to be launched in 2025, expanding pay as you go to an additional 92 rail stations. We will also be extending contactless PAYG ticketing to 53 additional stations in the South East.
In addition, on 16 January this year, LNER began selling tickets for its two year long “Simpler Fares” pilot, for travel from 5 February. This pilot involves removing the old off-peak which led to some very quiet “peak” and very busy “off-peak” services, simplifying the fares and ticketing system to smooth out demand and reduce crowding, making travel more comfortable for passengers.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Hitachi on its Newton Aycliffe plant.
Answered by Huw Merriman
My Department has met Hitachi Rail’s UK management team several times in recent months to discuss workload at the company’s Newton Aycliffe site. We remain keen to discuss options with Hitachi as it seeks to secure a sustainable long-term future for its site.