Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether splitting the trains on the Norwich to Liverpool rail service at Nottingham has improved or reduced the reliability of service on that line.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The splitting of these trains has not yet taken place, so such an assessment is not possible. It is currently planned to take place from December 2021.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the number of train crew that are required as a result of splitting the trains on the Norwich to Liverpool rail service at Nottingham.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
This will be assessed as part of the final implementation decision. We expect the overall numbers to be broadly similar.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that railway franchise holders improve mobile phone signal coverage on trains.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department recognises the importance of providing mobile connectivity for rail passengers and has sought improvements when franchises are renewed. In both the new East Midlands and West Coast Partnership franchises, the operators have committed to improving mobile connectivity for their passengers on trains and at stations. Beyond these franchises, we continue to seek other opportunities to enhance mobile connectivity across the rail network. In particular, the Department has been working with Ofcom, Network Rail and others to improve the data available about mobile phone signals along rail corridors so that operators can take this into account. This was published by Ofcom in December 2019.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their plans to improve East-West rail links, whether the Liverpool to Norwich service will split at Nottingham; if so, why; and what assessment they have made of this decision, in terms of both costs and revenue.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
An in-principle decision to split the Norwich to Liverpool service at Nottingham was taken as part of the East Midlands franchising process and was included in the financial assessment of that project. This will be re-assessed prior to a final decision being taken.
The reasons for the decision 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.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of his Department’s decision to delay the re-tendering of the East Midlands Trains franchise from October 2015 to August 2019 on the compliance of that operator’s fleet with rail accessibility requirements which came into force on 1 January 2020.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
No specific assessment on rolling stock compliance has been made regarding the effect of re-scheduling the franchise competitions. We continue to push the rail industry for continuous improvement to deliver accessible journeys, and an accessible fleet is planned to be in place on the East Midlands franchise from December 2020.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government who they have contracted to operate the Nottingham to Liverpool railway service from December 2021; and what estimate they have made of the financial implications of the decision to end the Norwich to Liverpool railway service at Nottingham from December 2021 in terms of (1) cost, and (2) revenue.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
No decision has been made to date on which train operator will provide the Nottingham to Liverpool railway service from December 2021. The financial implications of ending the Norwich to Liverpool service at Nottingham were considered as part of the competition for the new East Midlands franchise.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 25 September 2019 to Question 290960, what assessment he has made of the trajectory for rolling stock leasing costs on the East Midlands Railway once the Abellio franchise ends in 2026.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Referring to the Answer of 25 September 2019 to Question 290960, beyond the existing East Midlands franchise, the retention of this rolling stock within the franchise and the associated leasing costs will be dealt with through a future re-franchising competition. The assessment of the rolling stock lease costs for the future franchise would be conducted at that time.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the contractual requirements between East Midlands Railway and the Department for Transport for the operational performance of that line; and who is responsible for measuring that performance.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The franchise agreement sets out operational performance benchmarks for Cancellations, Delay Minutes and Short Formations. Network Rail monitors and measures the operational performance of the railways and the Train Operator will provide these numbers to the Department for Transport to monitor their performance against the benchmarks.
The East Midlands Railway franchise agreement, which contains the franchise specific benchmarks, will be published on the gov.uk website in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on greenhouse gas emissions of their decision that East Midlands Trains should order 165 new bi-mode vehicles to fulfil their franchise commitment as compared with an all-electric fleet using renewable energy.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Passengers expect high quality rail services and we are committed to electrification where it delivers passenger benefits and good value for money for taxpayers, but we will also take advantage of state of the art new technology to improve journeys.
In line with the Department for Transport’s processes for appraising transport investments, an economic appraisal including the environmental impacts has been carried out using the DfT’s Transport Analysis Guidance, incorporating DEFRA guidance on transport related environmental impacts. Using this methodology, benefits from reduced greenhouse gas emissions are assessed over a 60 year appraisal period.
We expect the new bi-mode trains to deliver an overall better environmental performance than the existing diesel trains on this route and so contribute to further improving this record.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the trajectory for the leasing costs of the new rolling stock on the East Midlands Railway over the course of the asset life of the trains after the award of the contract by operator Abellio to Hitachi on 30 July 2019.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The leasing costs of rolling stock during the franchise term are a matter for Abellio. Beyond the existing franchise, the retention of this rolling stock within the franchise and the associated leasing costs will be dealt with through a future re-franchising competition.