Asked by: Cameron, Donald (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Highlands and Islands)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to revise its growth target for rail freight, in light of reports that the UK Government has set a target to grow rail freight by at least 75% by 2050.
Answered by Hyslop, Fiona - Minister for Transport
The Scottish Government has led on rail freight growth, setting the first target of its kind in 2017 for the period 2019 -2024. This was consolidated further in 2023 with a more stretching rail freight growth target of 8.7% for the rail period 2024-2029 (through the Scottish Ministers’ High Level Output Specification) and a requirement for Network Rail to set out a longer-term strategy for growth by 2027. The Scottish Government welcomes the UK Government’s interest in promoting freight modal shift and notes that the target for England and Wales for 2024 -2029 is 7.5%.
Written Evidence Apr. 29 2024
Committee: Public Accounts CommitteeFound: RTP0003 - Rail reform: The rail transformation programme Rail Partners Written Evidence
Found: Individuals Patrick Miner Organisations Allan Rail, CalMac, Capital Rail Action Group, CoMoUK
Mentions:
1: Baroness Randerson (LD - Life peer) My Lords, I want to shine a light on Great Western Railway, at whose hands the Minister and I suffer - Speech Link
2: Lord Liddle (Lab - Life peer) Since then, we have had the Williams Rail Review, the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, and a lecture by - Speech Link
3: Lord Davies of Gower (Con - Life peer) The last two national rail contracts began in October 2023. - Speech Link
4: Baroness Grey-Thompson (XB - Life peer) My Lords, in the light of the draft rail reform Bill, will His Majesty’s Government commit to primary - Speech Link
Asked by: Sweeney, Paul (Scottish Labour - Glasgow)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its aim to encourage modal shift to more sustainable travel, what discussions it has had with (a) Network Rail and (b) the UK Department for Transport regarding investments to enable the West Coast Main Line to operate high-speed trains at up to 140 mph (225 km/h) and with higher average speeds between Glasgow Central Station and London Euston Station.
Answered by Hyslop, Fiona - Minister for Transport
Given the importance of cross border rail connectivity for passengers and freight we meet routinely with the UK Government, Network Rail and industry partners to discuss the current operation and future plans for the West Coast Main Line (WCML) including passenger connectivity between Glasgow and London Euston station.
To deliver aspirations enabling modal shift to rail, all parties recognise the importance of improving the attractiveness of rail, particularly as an alternative to less sustainable travel modes.
HS2 would have supported the delivery of these aspirations, however In light of the UK Governments decision to cancel the Manchester route of HS2, I have specifically raised the West Coast main line, and freight issues in recent discussions with Network Rail UK and UK Department of Transport. The UK Government has yet to advise us what its plans for Glasgow to London rail services will be in light of this recent cancellation.
Found: MSP) Rona Gibb (Paths for All) Stuart Hay (Living Streets) Suzanne Forup (Cycling UK) Vic MacKinlay (Light
Asked by: Lennon, Monica (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will restore the £315 million of funding that is due to be lost from the Network Rail funding envelope, in light of an RMT survey finding that 92% of its Network Rail members said that a major rail safety incident occurring on the railway within the next two years was "likely", with 45% saying it was "very likely”, 66% saying railways are less safe than two years ago and 94% thinking that proposed reductions to renewals in the next five years would worsen rail safety.
Answered by Hyslop, Fiona - Minister for Transport
The Scottish Government has fully funded Network Rail Scotland to meet the assessment of its requirements as carried out by the independent rail regulator for the next five year rail investment Control Period (2024-29).
The total funding for the rail sector in Scotland for financial year 2023-2024 alone is circa £1.4 billion. This is compared to pre-pandemic levels of around £1 billion, demonstrating a significant increase in investment by the Scottish Government.
Scottish Ministers’ priorities remain focussed on a high-performing, efficient and safe rail network. These objectives are fully aligned with ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper so that best value is secured for Scotland’s rail passengers, communities and businesses.
Where the ORR has determined increases in spend, such as operations to adapt to climate change, the Scottish Government has accepted and fully funded these recommendations, in order to strike the right balance in this Control Period among operations, maintenance and renewals.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will take steps to provide funding for the (a) development and (b) implementation of driverless (i) underground trains, (ii) overground trains, (iii) metro systems and (iv) other public transport.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Whilst there are a number of automated light railway systems in the UK, such as the Docklands Light Railway in London, the implementation of such systems have not been deployed on the main line network due to their complexity.
The Department has no plans to provide specific funding for the development or implementation of driverless technology on existing light rail.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate his Department has made of the level of (a) car ownership, (b) bus usage (c) light rail usage, (d) train usage and (e) active travel in Mid Bedfordshire constituency.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
A) Car ownership
According to the Department’s vehicle statistics, there were 77,060 registered cars as at end-June 2023 in Mid Bedfordshire constituency.
Data for b) bus usage, c) light rail usage, d) train usage and e) active travel is not available for Mid Bedfordshire constituency as it is not collected at this level.
Asked by: Sweeney, Paul (Scottish Labour - Glasgow)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it can instruct its enterprise agencies to engage with Gibson's Engineering Ltd, in light of its reported reopening of the St Rollox "Caley" Railway Works in Springburn.
Answered by McAllan, Màiri - Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition
Engagement between Scottish Enterprise and Gibson's Engineering Ltd led to a Business Gateway referral in 2022. In addition, the Find Business Support website ( findbusinesssupport.gov.scot ) provides information on the advice and funding offered by Scottish Enterprise and Business Gateway and I would encourage Gibson’s Engineering to consider the full range of support available.
Specialist support is also available through the Rail Cluster, an initiative designed and funded by Scottish Enterprise and Transport Scotland which is being delivered by Scottish Engineering. The aim is to connect Scottish SMEs with the country’s top manufacturing innovators and supply chain partners to help deliver the decarbonisation of Scotland’s railways. I understand that Gibson’s Engineering has already engaged with the Rail Cluster.