Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what scenarios have been run under the National Transport Model in the last five years.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The National Transport Model (NTM) is used by the Department for Transport to analyse possible future travel behaviour, and so to inform investment and policy decisions. Scenarios are a method used by analysts to understand uncertainty, taking different inputs and assumptions into the modelling.
One use of the NTM is to provide the projections for the Department’s regular publications, most recently the National Road Traffic Projections 2022. The NTM was used to run a Core Scenario and seven Common Analytical Scenarios. These scenarios have been created to explore key drivers of uncertainty on transport demand, including the economy, decarbonisation, behaviour and technology. Full descriptors of these scenarios can be found in DfT’s Uncertainty Toolkit as well as in the National Road Traffic Projections report. The outputs of these runs are also in the report, as well as published data files on the same webpage.
Prior to the National Road Traffic Projections, the Department published the Road Traffic Forecasts in 2018. These included scenarios that have since been superseded by the Common Analytical Scenarios, but were an improvement on previous publications. These scenarios explored GDP, fuel price, migration, behaviour and decarbonisation of vehicles. The full descriptions of these scenarios, as well as the outputs from the modelling, are published in the report and associated data tables.
In addition to the Department’s regular publications, the NTM serves as an invaluable departmental analytical tool. As with many other models, it is used to inform policy decisions, as well as undertaking exploratory analysis to understand possible impacts of in areas the Department know to be significant in travel behaviour (for example, changes in GDP projections).
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department has spent on consultancy fees since 2010.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Spend on consultancy by the Department is published in the DfT Annual Report and Accounts, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dft-annual-reports-and-accounts
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on which towns in England with populations of 30,000 or more do not have a railway station.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Latest analysis of Office for National Statistics 2019 Population Estimates Data by Network Rail suggests that there are currently eight towns in England, with a population of 30,000 or more, without an operational railway station and not situated within 5km of one. These are Washington, Swadlincote, Blyth, Aldridge, Coalville, Wisbech, Rushden and Witney.
As part of the levelling-up agenda, and a manifesto commitment, in January 2020 the government launched the Restoring Your Railway (RYR) Fund to reopen lines and stations, including ones closed following the 1963 Reshaping of British Railways (Beeching) Report. The aim is to reconnect smaller communities, regenerate local economies and improve access to jobs, homes and education. The Dartmoor line (between Okehampton and Exeter) marked the first reopening in November 2021, opening two years ahead of schedule, and Marsh Barton station opened in July 2023.
Of the eight towns listed above, seven (Washington, Swadlincote, Blyth, Aldridge, Coalville, Wisbech and Witney) have been considered by the RYR programme and four (Swadlincote, Blyth, Aldridge and Coalville) have been considered within the scope of RYR-funded projects, including the Northumberland Line, Ivanhoe Line and Aldridge Line Upgrade.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much Great British Railways has spent on consultancy fees since its establishment.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Since its establishment in September 2022, the Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) has spent a total of 20.3 million on specialist technical support, including consultancy, for the creation of Great British Railways.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which rail lines are only operated for freight purposes; and what the length in miles of each such line is.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As of 31 March 2022, according to ORR, 777 miles of mainline network in Great Britain are for freight only, with 9,129 miles for passenger and freight traffic. This refers to the mainline railway and does not include privately operated lines, such as terminals, for which we do not hold information.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what percentage of the movement of freight within the United Kingdom was by (a) road, (b) rail and (c) water in each year since 2016.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
From 2016 to 2020 (latest available statistics), the average annual percentage of domestic freight moved, measured by goods moved, is a) 78%, b) 9% and c) 14%.
The table below summarises the percentage of domestic freight moved by mode annually since 2016, measured by goods moved.
| Road | Rail | Water |
2016 | 76% | 9% | 15% |
2017 | 78% | 9% | 13% |
2018 | 78% | 9% | 13% |
2019 | 79% | 8% | 13% |
2020 | 77% | 9% | 14% |
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which railway stations have been (a) built and (b) reopened in the last 20 years; whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of jobs created (i) directly during the first two years of constructions, (ii) indirectly during the first two years of each constructions and (iii) overall in each project; and what data his Department holds on the cost of each project.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Office of Rail and Road publishes data on the authorisation into use of new railway infrastructure (including new stations and lines) since 2019 at: https://www.orr.gov.uk/guidance-compliance/rail/health-safety/laws/interoperability/authorisations
The Department does not routinely hold information on levels of job creation across all station and line projects and is unable to answer the timeframe requested as this would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which railway lines have been (a) built and (b) reopened in the last 20 years; how many jobs were created (i) directly during the first two years of each construction, (ii) indirectly during the first two years of each construction and (iii) overall in each project; and how much each project cost.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Office of Rail and Road publishes data on the authorisation into use of new railway infrastructure (including new stations and lines) since 2019 at: https://www.orr.gov.uk/guidance-compliance/rail/health-safety/laws/interoperability/authorisations
The Department does not routinely hold information on levels of job creation across all station and line projects and is unable to answer the timeframe requested as this would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies on improving public transport of the impact of local transport (a) levies in France and (b) funding instruments in other countries.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Government keeps its funding model for local transport services under review, and takes account of a wide range of factors, including evidence from overseas, in determining the appropriate level and means of support for local transport authorities.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an estimate of the average carbon dioxide emissions per person per journey from London to Newcastle by (a) air, (b) rail, (c) lorry and (d) car.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department has not estimated the emissions associated with this specific journey.