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Written Question
Bus Services: Coronavirus
Wednesday 8th July 2020

Asked by: William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether passengers on private tour coaches will be required to socially distance while (a) wearing and (b) not wearing face coverings during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

The Safer Travel guidance recommends that where it is not possible to keep a 2 metre distance, such as in enclosed spaces, passengers should maintain a 1 metre distance where possible and take suitable precautions, such as wearing a face covering, not directly facing other passengers and regularly washing or sanitising their hands.


Written Question
Bus Services: Coronavirus
Tuesday 7th July 2020

Asked by: William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing coaches and buses to operate without social distancing but with the compulsory wearing of facemasks by passengers and other similar measures.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

It is a Government priority to ensure that passengers can travel safely on public transport. On 15 June, it became law that passengers must wear a face covering when travelling on public transport services in England. Following a review of social distancing guidelines, from 4 July, where it is not always possible to stay two metres apart, passengers should try to?keep a social distance of ‘one metre plus’, taking actions which reduce the risk of transmission, such as wearing a face covering, not directly facing other passengers and regularly washing or sanitising your hands.


Written Question
Bus Services: Coronavirus
Tuesday 9th June 2020

Asked by: William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of when the private coach industry will be able to return to either partial or full operation during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

On 10 May, the Government set out its roadmap for how and when the UK will adjust its response to the Coronavirus outbreak, which included five tests which must be satisfied in order to progress forward to enable the country to recover as quickly and safely as possible. As and when sectors of the economy re-open, coach operators should see a return to operation as demands for home-to-school transport, leisure travel and other activities increase.


Written Question
Bus Services: Coronavirus
Thursday 4th June 2020

Asked by: William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a bespoke package of support for the private coach industry during the covid-19 pandemic.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

We are encouraging coach operators to make use of the wide range of support measures the Chancellor announced. These amount to £330 billion of loans and guarantees for businesses. We are continuing to engage with the coach sector to understand what the ongoing risks and issues are, and how these could be addressed in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

On 12 May, the Government published guidance for passengers and transport operators to help them keep themselves and their staff safe, including how social distancing rules should be interpreted to do this. This guidance will be kept up-to-date as restrictions on travel change.


Written Question
Bus Services: Coronavirus
Thursday 4th June 2020

Asked by: William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the two metre social distancing requirements on the viability of the private coach industry.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

We are encouraging coach operators to make use of the wide range of support measures the Chancellor announced. These amount to £330 billion of loans and guarantees for businesses. We are continuing to engage with the coach sector to understand what the ongoing risks and issues are, and how these could be addressed in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

On 12 May, the Government published guidance for passengers and transport operators to help them keep themselves and their staff safe, including how social distancing rules should be interpreted to do this. This guidance will be kept up-to-date as restrictions on travel change.


Written Question
Roads: North of England
Monday 17th October 2016

Asked by: William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has for road investment in the north of England.

Answered by John Hayes

This Government is committing a total of £15.2 billion in the enhancement and long-term maintenance of the Strategic Road Network between 2015/16 and 2020/21 including 127 major schemes. Of these there are 42 schemes for the North of England with a value of £2.9 billion investment.

On the local road network, we have been providing significant investment for roads in the North. This includes eight schemes completed including the Crewe Green Link Road, five under construction including the Heysham-M6 Link Road and the Mersey Gateway Bridge, as well as a further five which are under development. In addition we are currently considering further bids for development funding for large schemes on the local network, including the A6 to M60 Relief Road Scheme. These bids are currently being assessed and the successful schemes will be announced in the autumn.


Written Question
Department for Transport: UK Membership of EU
Thursday 9th June 2016

Asked by: William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will place in the Library copies of all letters, leaflets and other material from his Department circulated to (a) stakeholders and (b) members of the public on the EU referendum; what the costs of the production and distribution of that material has been since 1 January 2016; and what he estimates the cost of any further production and distribution of such material will be between 6 May 2016 and 23 June 2016.

Answered by Robert Goodwill

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given by my Hon Friend, the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (John Penrose) on 8 June 2016 (UIN 38811).


Written Question
Rolling Stock: North West
Tuesday 12th April 2016

Asked by: William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what provisions his Department has put in place to improve rolling stock as part of the rail franchise package for the North West.

Answered by Andrew Jones

The new Northern and TransPennine Express franchises commenced on the 1st April. By the end of 2019, they will have introduced significant improvements in Rolling Stock.

The Northern franchise will deliver:-

  • 281 new carriages including 55 new Diesel and 43 new Electric trains – the first ever new trains specified for the Northern franchise
  • Additional diesel units cascaded from other franchises – refurbished to ‘as new’ standard
  • Removal of all Pacer trains by October 2019
  • All retained trains will be refurbished as new including Wi-Fi, media servers, passenger information systems, CCTV and accessible toilets with baby-change facilities

This means that 30% of this expanded fleet will be new and will operate 2000 more services per week –a 12% increase. The additional trains will provide a 37% increase in morning peak capacity into the North’s 5 major cities by December 2019.

The TransPennine franchise will deliver:-

  • 220 new carriages
  • All existing trains will be refurbished as new including Wi-Fi, additional power sockets, and real-time passenger information systems

This means that 70% of fleet is new, the fleet size increases by two-thirds, provides 13million more seats, an 80% increase in morning peak seats by the end of 2019.


These delivery plans as bid by the two operators during the Invitation to Tender process have been contracted within the franchise agreements.