Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been budgeted for upgrades to stretches of the A27 at (a) Arundel, (b) Worthing/Lancing and (c) Lewes/Polegate.
Answered by John Hayes
In line with Highways England’s commitment to commence upgrades to sections of the A27 between 2015-2020, they are currently developing options for schemes at Arundel, Worthing / Lancing and Lewes / Polegate. As stated in the Road Investment Strategy and subject to achieving value for money the funding for these projects will be within the following ranges:
A27 Arundel Bypass: £100m - £250m
A27 Worthing to Lancing: £50m - £100m
A27 East of Lewes: £50m - £100m
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his announcement of 28 February 2017 to stop work on the A27 Chichester bypass major improvement scheme, what his plans are for the Worthing to Lancing section of the A27 in West Sussex.
Answered by John Hayes
Highways England’s delivery of the A27 Worthing to Lancing improvement scheme remains unaffected following the Secretary of State’s decision to cancel the A27 Chichester Bypass Improvement scheme and will proceed as planned.
The extent and scale of the improvements are yet to be determined. Highways England is currently conducting a range of surveys and assessment work to give them information about traffic volumes and the local environment. This information will help explore different design options that would meet the aims of the scheme. Highways England is engaging with local authorities and technical stakeholders to take into account their views prior to taking viable options to a public consultation in summer 2017.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the merits of the F010 option for a surface road beyond the southern edge of the Stonehenge World Heritage site.
Answered by John Hayes
Highways England reviewed a range of options for improving this section of the A303. The F010 option was assessed on the same basis as those for placing the A303 in a tunnel past Stonehenge using the Transport, Economic Growth, Cultural Heritage and Environment and Community objectives for the scheme.
Whilst option F010 performed better than the tunnel options against the Cultural Heritage objective, it performed worse against the other objectives. In particular, it would have large adverse environmental impacts through the Woodford Valley and would not be effective in relieving rat-running traffic problems in the local communities. The assessments are fully explained in the published consultation material on Highways England’s website.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with coach and bus companies on provision of alternative routes for commuters living in Worthing during industrial action on the Southern rail line.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The coach market in the UK is deregulated, as is the bus market in GB outside London. It is for individual bus and coach companies to decide how to respond to the action by Southern Rail.
However, my officials are closely liaising with the Confederation of Passenger Transport, the bus and coach trade body, to determine how bus and coach operators can best assist with providing alternative transport.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with coach and bus companies on mitigating the effects of industrial action on the Southern rail line.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The coach market in the UK is deregulated, as is the bus market in GB outside London. It is for individual bus and coach companies to decide how to respond to the action by Southern Rail.
However, my officials are closely liaising with the Confederation of Passenger Transport, the bus and coach trade body, to determine how bus and coach operators can best assist with providing alternative transport.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much in compensation payments has been paid by Govia Thameslink Railway to customers since the start of that franchise.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The delay repay compensation figures for all Train Operating Companies covering the years 2009-10 to 2014-15 are published on the GOV.UK website at – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/train-operating-companies-passenger-charter-compensation-between-2009-to-2015. Figures for the 2015-16 financial year for all Train Operating Companies are expected to be published on the GOV.UK website later this year. Releasing all the figures at the same time will allow everyone to see them together which will provide a clear and consistent publication and help avoid misinterpretation and confusion.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much in compensation payments has been paid by Network Rail to Govia Thameslink Railway since the start of that franchise.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest information is published on Network Rail’s website - http://www.networkrail.co.uk/transparency/datasets/ - covering the years 2011-12 to 2014-15.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much revenue Govia Thameslink Railway has paid to the Government since taking up its franchise in 2014.
Answered by Claire Perry
Passenger Income by Train Operating Company is published annually in August by the Office of Road and Rail. It is available online at: http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/21039/gb-rail-industry-financial-information-2014-15.pdf (Table 5.1).
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the provision of overtime payments to train staff employed by Govia Thameslink Railway.
Answered by Claire Perry
We do not receive information regarding staff costs to this level of granularity.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much profit Govia Thameslink Railway was expected to make over the lifetime of its franchise according to the original business case; and how much profit that company has made since the start of that franchise.
Answered by Claire Perry
The profit Govia Thameslink Railway expected to make over the lifetime of its franchise is a commercially sensitive figure. With regard to their actual profits, Govia will publish their audited annual accounts as required through Companies House.