Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many heavy rail vehicles built before 1999 have not been refurbished to comply with (a) RVAR 10 and (b) PRM TSI regulations.

Fleets containing 1345 vehicles built before 1999 have, or currently are, being refurbished to either of the two accessibility standards. When combined with the 6115 vehicles built since 1998, this means that 59 per cent of the national heavy rail fleet meets the requirements. The equivalent proportion as at March 2010 was 45 per cent.

Approximately 5150 vehicles built before 1999 have yet to be made fully accessible, but we expect all to be made compliant, or replaced, by 2020.