Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what agreement was reached on the liability for pension risk between the Department for Transport and Stagecoach when it was announced that the company had been awarded a direct award to run the East Midlands Trains franchise on 12 February 2019.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The East Midlands Direct Award is for a short period of time and is due to end on 11 August 2019. As in all other Franchise Agreements, the Franchisee (as the Designated Employer) is responsible for paying employer pension contributions required under the schedule of contributions applicable during their franchise term.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department was responsible for conducting the East Midlands Trains franchise competition; and if this administration of the process includes the (a) scoping, (b) evaluation of compliance and (c) award of franchise bids.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Department for Transport conducted the East Midlands franchise competition as per the usual process for franchising: specifying the minimum requirements for bids, evaluating bidders’ proposals against those requirements, reviewing bids to check whether they were compliant with the rules of the competition and awarding the franchise contract.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2019 to Question 244025 and the Answer of 8 May 2019 249827 on East Midlands Rail Franchise: Rolling Stock , what assurances he has received from the train operator as to which type of diesel trains will replace the current fleet on Midland Main Line intercity services; and where those trains will be procured from.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Abellio’s bid contained assurances regarding the availability, capability and characteristics of the rolling stock that will be introduced on the Midland Mainline. With regard to the procurement of these trains, I refer the Honourable member to the answer given on 8 May [249827].
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 May 2019 to Question 247080, for what reason he is unable to state whether or not Arriva submitted a compliant bid for the East Midlands Trains franchise; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Jones
I refer the Honourable member to the answer given on 3 May Arriva’s bid is a matter for them.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Abellio bid for the East Midlands Trains franchise was fully compliant with the terms set out by the Department for the evaluation of bids.
Answered by Andrew Jones
I refer the Honourable member to the answer given on 8 May [250032] in regards to East Midlands Trains franchise.
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on the level of greenhouse gas emissions of the Government's decision of June 2017 to cancel the planned electrification of railway lines between (a) Cardiff and Swansea, (b) Kettering and Sheffield and (c) Windermere and Oxenholme.
Answered by Andrew Jones
We are committed to a greener, cleaner transport system. 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. Better trains and upgraded infrastructure will take polluting cars and lorries off our roads – reducing the overall carbon footprint of UK transport – making our air cleaner..
On the Midland Main Line, brand new intercity trains will be introduced, which will have less environmental impact than the current trains, some of which are over 30 years old. They will be bi-mode, which means they can also take advantage of the electrified parts of the line.
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, are seeking innovative ways to keep emissions to a minimum when running under diesel power. It is not possible to accurately calculate the environmental impact of new bi-mode trains until the design and development of the new trains is complete.
This new franchise will be at the forefront of delivering a cleaner, greener rail network. Abellio will trial hydrogen fuel cell trains on the Midland Main Line and will run zero-carbon pilots at six stations along the route.
Once the transformation of the Great Western is complete the new Intercity Express trains will spend most of the journey between London and Swansea in electric mode. In diesel mode the new trains meet the highest rolling stock emissions standards.
On Windermere to Oxenholme, there are proposals for alternative fuel trials involving battery technology by Northern on the Lakes Line.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the East Midlands franchise was awarded to Abellio until 2027 before the conclusion of the Williams review.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The government will publish a White Paper setting out how we will implement the Review’s recommendations in the autumn. Reform will start as early as 2020. This does not prevent us taking every opportunity in the short term to improve passengers’ experience.
We considered on a case-by-case basis whether to continue with the current franchise competitions and concluded that awarding the East Midlands franchise now would be in the best interests of passengers and taxpayers and would allow planned passenger benefits, such as new trains, to be delivered at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether all three bids for the East Midlands franchise were non-compliant.
Answered by Andrew Jones
It was a fair, open competition and Abellio provided the best bid for passengers, in which it demonstrated that it will not only meet but exceed the Department’s specifications
In complex procurement processes such as this, it is a matter of course that there may be small technical non-compliances. These include, for example, incorrect font sizes or submitting bids in the wrong format. This does not constitute a material non-compliance which would affect the compliance of the bid as a whole.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons his Department (a) disqualified Stagecoach from the East Midlands, South Eastern and West Coast Partnership rail franchise competitions on 1 April 2019 and (b) did not inform that company of that decision until 9 April 2019.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Entities in which Stagecoach were participating were disqualified from the East Midlands, West Coast Partnership and South Eastern competitions because they chose to submit bids which were not compliant with the requirements of the Instructions To Tender for each competition. Stagecoach were informed of the disqualification as soon as possible after the decision was confirmed.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the average price-per-mile to consumers for rail travel in each (a) nation and region of the UK and (b) rail franchise.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Office of Rail and Road publishes information on passenger income per passenger kilometre in UK Rail Industry Financial Information 2017-18. Passenger income refers to income received by franchised train operators from passengers through ticket sales but does not include other passenger income from catering and car parks.
The following table sets out passenger income per passenger kilometre for the nations of Great Britain in 2017-18. Figures for Northern Ireland and the regions are unavailable:
| England | Scotland | Wales | GB total |
Passenger income per passenger km (£s) | 0.15 | 0.10 | 0.14 | 0.15 |
The following table sets out passenger income per passenger kilometre for each rail
franchise in Great Britain in 2017-18:
| Passenger income per passenger km (£s) |
Essex Thameside | 0.14 |
Chiltern | 0.13 |
Cross Country | 0.14 |
East Coast | 0.14 |
East Midlands | 0.16 |
East Anglia | 0.16 |
Great Western | 0.16 |
Northern | 0.12 |
South Eastern | 0.17 |
South Western | 0.15 |
Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern | 0.17 |
TransPennine Express | 0.12 |
Wales & Borders | 0.12 |
West Coast | 0.15 |
West Midlands | 0.12 |
London Overground | 0.17 |
Merseyrail Electrics | 0.08 |
ScotRail | 0.12 |
TfL Rail | 0.16 |
Caledonian Sleeper | 0.12 |
GB total | 0.15 |