To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


View sample alert

Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
East Midlands Rail Franchise
Tuesday 10th January 2023

Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the East Midlands Trains National Rail contract.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Department is in the process of reviewing the documents to understand if any information is exempt under the FOI Act and should therefore be redacted prior to publishing. Once the Department has completed this process the East Midlands National Rail Contract will be published on the Government website, occurring no later than 5 April 2023.


Written Question
East Midlands Rail Franchise
Monday 5th September 2022

Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Charnwood)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of delivery to date of (a) service improvements and (b) investment in new rolling stock as set out in the East Midlands 2019 rail franchise agreement.

Answered by Wendy Morton

A new dedicated electric train service between Corby and London St Pancras, with frequency doubled to two train per hour has been delivered, enabling peak time long distance services to and from London to be accelerated. The new fleet of bi-mode long distance trains, committed to as part of the East Midlands 2019 rail franchise agreement, are under construction and should enter service in the next couple of years.

As a result of the impact of the pandemic, the Department are negotiating to replace the 2019 franchise agreement with a directly awarded National Rail Contract which will enable more flexibility to develop service and rolling stock plans that reflect the changes to travel habits that the pandemic caused.


Written Question
Railways: Fees and Charges
Wednesday 18th May 2022

Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been levied in fixed track access charges for (a) all train operators and (b) each train operator for each financial year from 2016-17 to 2021-22.

Answered by Wendy Morton

The below table shows the amount levied in fixed track access charges for (a) all train operators and (b) each train operator for each financial year from 2016-17 to 2021-22.

£m, cash prices

Franchised operator

16/17

17/18

18/19

19/20

20/21

21/22 (1)

Arriva Trains Wales

15.3

18.6

24.0

Transport for Wales

4.5

32.9

Keolis Amey Wales

15.0

33.6

24.8

c2c

4.1

4.9

9.8

15.5

16.7

16.0

Chiltern

22.1

22.0

37.6

33.2

33.5

35.1

Cross Country

16.5

22.4

46.2

49.7

45.9

45.5

Virgin East Coast

22.4

27.2

18.1

London North Eastern Railway

40.6

50.4

45.7

55.6

East Midlands

12.2

15.0

33.5

18.2

East Midlands Railway

29.1

42.5

39.7

Govia Thameslink Railway

31.9

39.2

85.4

149.0

155.0

136.7

First Great Western

24.7

31.7

67.0

83.2

78.3

77.6

Greater Anglia

9.8

Abelio East Anglia

8.4

22.2

47.2

45.3

55.8

52.2

London Midland

14.2

10.9

West Midlands Trains

4.9

33.6

46.9

46.6

52.8

London Overground

2.6

Arriva Rail London

1.6

5.2

11.0

19.6

21.7

22.3

Merseyrail

2.6

3.1

6.6

17.7

16.2

17.6

MTR Crossrail

2.0

2.4

31.1

69.9

79.9

79.6

Arriva Rail North

20.2

25.8

56.1

73.8

Northern Trains

13.4

83.2

85.1

Scotrail

89.2

149.7

243.5

263.1

276.2

287.7

Serco Sleeper

4.2

7.0

11.0

4.0

4.2

4.5

London & South Eastern Railway

19.1

23.7

49.1

69.4

41.3

Southeastern

35.4

70.5

South West Trains

20.9

9.4

South Western Railway

15.5

53.9

72.3

78.6

84.4

Transpennine

10.4

12.7

27.4

35.5

32.1

29.1

Virgin West Coast

35.8

43.0

91.1

42.1

Avanti West Coast

18.7

61.1

68.0

Total

390.2

516.5

1,038.8

1,253.6

1,279.3

1,293.0

Accounting adjustments (2)

1.8

2.5

(0.8)

0.4

(0.3)

(0.0)

Total disclosed in Regulatory Financial Statements

392.0

519.0

1,038.0

1,254.0

1,279.0

1,293.0

Notes

(1) 21/22 figures have yet to be published and are subject to year end assurance and audit

(2) Accounting adjustments relate to some centrally managed items not attributable to an individual operator

Changes in franchises

During 2018/19 responsibility for the London North East rail franchise transferred from Virgin East Coast to London North Eastern Railway.

During 2018/19, London North Eastern Railway was created to operate the London North East rail franchise whilst the government assessed franchising options for this route. Therefore, income is recognised for the first time against this operator in that year

Abelio East Anglia replaced Greater Anglia as the franchise operator during 2016/17 which accounts for the movements between 2015/16 and 2016/17 for these two operators.

In 2016/17, Arriva Rail London assumed responsibility for the London overground concession previously run by London Overground Rail Operations. Therefore, there is a significant decrease in the revenue reported from London Overground in 2016/17 compared to 2015/16 with a corresponding increase in Arriva Rail London

In 2017/18, West Midlands Trains replaced London Midland as the franchise operator on the London North West route. This also resulted in a decrease in London Midland income in 2017/18 compared to the previous year.

In 2017/18, South Western Railway replaced South West Trains as the principle operator in the Wessex route. Consequently, the income earned by the latter was shown for the first time in 2017/18, whilst the former has a noticeable year-on-year decrease in their turnover in the above table in those years

Arriva Trains Wales – this franchise ended in October 2018. Responsibility for operations in this area moved to Keolis Amey Wales, which means that Arriva Trains Wales has a reduction in income in 2018/19 compared to 2017/18

Keolis Amey Wales – this franchise commenced in October 2018, so reported income for the first time in 2018/19

During 2019/20 Avanti West Coast replaced Virgin West Coast as the franchisee for the West Coast Main Line. As a result, Virgin West Coast income decreases in 2019/20 and Avanti West Coast reports income for the first time

During 2019/20 East Midlands Railway replaced East Midlands as the franchisee for the east midlands line. As a result, East Midlands income decreases in 2019/20 and East Midlands Railway reports income for the first time

During 2020/21 Transport for Wales replaced Keolis Amey Wales as the franchisee for Wales. As a result, Keolis Amey Wales income decreases in 2020/21 and Transport for Wales reports income for the first time

During 2019/2020 Northern Trains replaced Arriva Rail North as the franchisee for Northern. As a result, Arriva Rail North income decreases in 2019/20 and Northern Trains reports income for the first time

During 2020/21 Southeastern replaced London & South East Railway as the franchisee for South East. As a result, London & South East Railways income decreases in 2020/21 and Southeastern reports income for the first time


Written Question
East Midlands Rail Franchise
Wednesday 10th November 2021

Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that East Midlands Railways is able to access the additional rolling stock set out in the franchise agreement.

Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The additional rolling stock for regional and local services cannot be released from its present operator until that operator introduces its fleet of new trains. Officials are in regular contact with East Midlands Railway and the other train operators involved with this in order to ensure that the changes take place as quickly as possible, whilst not putting the provision of existing services at risk.


Written Question
East Midlands Railway and West Coast Partnership Rail Franchise: Rolling Stock
Monday 19th July 2021

Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the delivery time for new fleets on (a) East Midlands Railway and (b) West Coast Partnership manufactured by Hitachi: and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The delivery timescales for new rolling stock are set out in the supply agreements between the operators and the manufacturers. The Department monitors delivery of new fleets against the requirements set out in national rail contracts or franchise agreements.


Written Question
East Coast Main Line
Tuesday 13th April 2021

Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of re-purposing the eastern arm of the East Coast Main Line, such as for direct travel from Bristol to east of the Pennines, after the opening of HS2.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands is considering how best to deliver schemes such as HS2 Phase 2b, Northern Powerhouse Rail and Midlands Engine Rail in the North and Midlands.

In addition, under its current franchise agreement, CrossCountry, which operates InterCity services between south-west England, Bristol, the north of England and Scotland, is required to develop proposals for timetable and capacity improvements to deliver for expected future passenger demand over the next few years.


Written Question
East Midlands Rail Franchise
Thursday 23rd July 2020

Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 10 July 2020 (HL6210), for what reasons they rejected the view of the majority of respondents to the East Midlands Rail franchise consultation who opposed splitting the Liverpool–Norwich service at Nottingham.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

On June 2018, the DfT published the East Midlands Rail Franchise Stakeholder Briefing document, which set out the Department for Transport’s reasons for its decision, following a review of all the feedback received by respondents. In reaching such decisions, the balance of consultation responses received is one of many elements that has to be considered when weighing up the arguments.


Written Question
East Midlands Rail Franchise
Monday 13th July 2020

Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 16 March (HL2045), on what evidence the claim is made that splitting the Norwich-Liverpool rail services at Nottingham will improve reliability.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Recent cross industry work on performance in the North West looked at the impact on Manchester’s Castlefield Corridor of trains heading to Manchester from Sheffield and found that “while the Norwich and Cleethorpes services generally depart their origin on time, by the time they depart Sheffield around 30% of trains are more than 5 minutes late”.

This confirms that the Norwich to Liverpool services lose time crossing the different congested corridors and key stations along its route. As a result, the trains then transmit further delay to the rest of the network. Industry data from the second half of 2019 on which individual trains cause the most delays to other trains, show that three of the worst eight trains on the whole GB network for transmitting delay are in this service group.

Therefore, both Network Rail and East Midlands Railway are firmly of the view that splitting these services at Nottingham will not only improve the performance of the respective halves of the split service, but also the performance of many other trains across the country.


Written Question
East Midlands Rail Franchise
Friday 10th July 2020

Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 16 March (HL2045), how many of the 2,300 responses to the East Midlands Rail Franchise consultation supported the proposal to split the Norwich-Liverpool services at Nottingham.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Out of the 2,300 total responses, 1,148 expressed a view on this question, of which 398 supported the proposed change (with 750 opposed).


Written Question
East Midlands Rail Franchise
Monday 16th March 2020

Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what are their reasons for splitting the trains on the Norwich to Liverpool rail service at Nottingham; what assessment they have made of the impact of this arrangement on passenger numbers on this service; and what consultation they undertook with passenger groups prior to this change.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The reasons for the in-principle decision to split this service were explained in the East Midlands Franchising Stakeholder Briefing Document published in June 2018. The benefits principally arise from being able to recognise the completely different characteristics and patronage levels of the services either side of Nottingham (87% of journeys are now within the Liverpool – Nottingham section) and then being able to develop the service offer accordingly, rather than simply perpetuating the linking of two separate services undertaken in the 1980s when the railway and its markets were very different.

No quantified assessment of the impact on passenger numbers has been made but will form part of the final implementation decision. However, we expect that the improved focus on the two different markets either side of Nottingham, together with improved reliability that splitting should bring, to grow passenger numbers overall.

This change was consulted on as part of the East Midlands re-franchising process in July – August 2017 which received 2,300 responses and featured several public meetings including in Liverpool, Nottingham and Norwich.