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 adequacy of the financing arrangements for the new fleet of rolling stock on the East Midlands Railway; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The financing arrangements of rolling stock are a matter for the operator, Abellio.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what inflationary measure his Department has specified in the new (a) East Midlands Trains and (b) West Coast Partnership franchises for the duration of those contracts.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflationary measure has been used for Annual Franchise Payments in both East Midlands Railway and West Coast Partnership franchises. This follows well-established rail industry practice which uses the RPI as the basis for franchise payment indexation, and for constraining annual increases to regulated passenger fares.
The franchise payment allows for indexation of staff costs by RPI. However, in the last 12 months of the franchise the Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) measure maybe used where a variation is proposed to the franchise employees’ terms and conditions.
The contracts also recognise that certain Network Rail charges are indexed by the Consumer Prices Index in Control Period 6.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what specification of reliability in terms of failures in service has been sought from Hitachi in the delivery of trains ordered for the East Midlands Trains franchise.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
This is a commercial matter between Abellio East Midlands Railway and Hitachi.
East Midlands Railway has separate contractual requirements for its overall operational performance with the Department.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) meetings and (b) discussions took place between his Department and the Government Rail Review Chair Keith Williams prior to the decision to award the East Midlands Trains franchise to Abellio on 10 April 2019.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Since the Review started in September 2018, Keith Williams has held regular meetings with the Department.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had with representatives from Abellio on Rail Gourmet’s decision not to pay the Living Wage on the East Midlands franchise.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
No discussion has occurred with Ministers. However, following a similar question from Grahame Morris, MP (and the response provided), officials have since raised this issue with East Midlands Railway.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with representatives from Abellio on Rail Gourmet’s failure to pay the Living Wage on the East Midlands franchise.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Abellio only took over the franchise on the 18th August so the Department has not yet held any discussions with Abellio regarding the catering contract with Rail Gourmet, however the Department regularly engages with franchises and will raise this at the next available opportunity.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department’s contract with Abellio on the East Midlands franchise includes any restrictions that would prevent payment of the Living Wage by catering sub-contractors.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department’s contract with Abellio does not contain any restriction that would prevent payment of the Living Wage by catering sub contractors. The National Living Wage was introduced by the Government in 2016.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and considering the decreasing costs of electrification, whether they will reconsider their decision to not electrify the Midland Main Line to Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield before they confirm any orders for hybrid trains.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
There are currently no plans to further extend electrification on the Midland Main Line (MML), beyond those works planned by the MML enhancements programme and HS2 Phase 2b.
The Government is committed to a greener, cleaner transport system, and recognises the important role this will play in reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. That’s why we are modernising the UK rail fleet to introduce more electric, bi-mode (electric and diesel hybrid) and alternative-fuel trains to the network. The new bi-mode intercity trains for the Midland Main Line will have less environmental impact than the current trains, some of which are over 30 years old. Our ambition is that these will be the cleanest ever bi-mode trains.
Abellio, who have recently been awarded the new East Midlands Railway franchise will be at the forefront of delivering a cleaner, greener rail network. They are seeking innovative ways to keep emissions to a minimum when running under diesel power, and will trial hydrogen fuel cell trains on the Midland Main Line and run zero-carbon pilots at six stations along the route.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has plans to transfer Barton on Humber services in to the East Midlands Railway franchise.
Answered by Andrew Jones
As detailed in the East Midlands franchise announcement on 10 April, the Barton-on-Humber to Cleethorpes service is planned to transfer from the Northern to the East Midlands franchise, delivering enhanced services on refurbished modern trains, providing more capacity, free Wi-Fi and air conditioning.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce the services between Nottingham and Liverpool provided by the East Midlands Railway franchise.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Information on service improvements in the next East Midlands franchise was detailed in the franchise announcement on 10 April 2019.
This can be found on the Department’s website at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-seats-services-and-state-of-the-art-trains-for-passengers-on-new-east-midlands-railway. Further details will be available from the operator when the new franchise starts in August 2019.
As announced in the East Midlands Stakeholder Briefing Document on 7 June 2018, in response to the public consultation, the Department intends to transfer the Liverpool-Nottingham section of the Liverpool–Norwich service out of the East Midlands franchise from December 2021. This change will bring a number of passenger benefits, including more capacity on the Liverpool–Nottingham section where there is overcrowding at times today, faster journey times, a more reliable service and enabling each half of the service to better meet their individual needs and those of routes they interact with. The transfer is subject to detailed assessment of how it will be carried out and a decision as to the best long-term operator for Liverpool – Nottingham services, which will be made in conjunction with Transport for the North. Further details will be made available in due course.