Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Office for Rail and Road’s annual UK rail industry assessment, published on 19 July, what steps her Department is taking to ensure Network Rail delivers its performance improvement plan for Wales and the Western region by 31 August.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Improving performance on the railway is a key priority, and the Rail Minister is expecting to meet Network Rail and Great Western Railway this month to discuss performance on these routes. Following the launch of Network Rail’s £140m performance improvement plan, we are starting to see improvements in performance, and we expect more in the coming months. We understand Network Rail delivered a final plan to the Office for Rail & Road by 31 August.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to extend the Great Western Main Line upgrade to include electrification to Swansea.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The decision taken in 2017 to not electrify the railway between Cardiff and Swansea was based on it not delivering significant journey time savings and this remains the case. Enhancements to the railway in Wales that deliver passenger benefits, including proposed electrification, are considered by the Wales Rail Board.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic impact of the cancellation of further stages of HS2; and whether they intend to undertake a formal reassessment of the new infrastructure required to improve rail services in the north of England, north Wales and Scotland, and on what timescale.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Transport is an essential part of our mission to rebuild Britain and this Government is committed to delivering infrastructure that works for the whole country. We need a long-term approach to infrastructure and investment taking account of local transport priorities, which is what we will provide. We will thoroughly review the position we have inherited before setting out more detailed plans in due course.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made on the proposed electrification of the North Wales Coast Line.
Answered by Huw Merriman
We are continuing to work closely with the rail industry to develop the Government priorities outlined in the Prime Minister’s Network North announcement, which includes an unprecedented £1 billion investment to fund the electrification of the North Wales Main Line. In February, the Transport Secretary hosted a meeting with local leaders in North Wales to discuss how HS2 savings will be rerouted to improve rail links in Wales.
We are in the early stages of establishing the next steps for the North Wales electrification scheme, including the costs and programme for development and delivery. We will share further information when that work is complete.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of deploying battery-powered trains.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Government expects electrification to play an important role in our programme to achieve our Net Zero 2050 target, which is why since 2010, more than 1,250 miles of electrification has been delivered in Great Britain, including over 900 miles in England and Wales in the last 11 years.
Alternative traction technologies, such as battery trains, will also play a key role in our approach to the decarbonisation of the rail network and our transition to net zero.
There are a number of trials by train operators involving battery technology currently underway such as those on TransPennine Express and Great Western Railway that will assess different battery and charging technologies.
New procurements where there is a demand for self-powered trains, such as Northern, will require suppliers to provide battery-electric solutions. Battery-powered trains for Transport for Wales and Merseyrail have been manufactured and are under test for operation on non-electrified parts of their routes.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans if any they have to provide level access on to trains by (1) lowering the track bed, (2) raising platforms, or (3) purchasing trains with a lower central section between the wheel bogies; and if not, why none of these options is acceptable.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
The Government appreciates how frustrating the issue of the difference in platform-to-train gap can be for passengers with disabilities and we remain committed to ensuring that all passengers have the same opportunities to travel on the rail network.
Gaps can vary at stations across the network, due to both the design of the station and the platforms at the time of construction, sometimes more than a hundred years ago. It also has to vary according to the type of services which use the line, for example, high-speed, commuter and freight trains.
The rail industry takes several approaches to improving the stepping distance between platform and train, for example the Department for Transport has funded a number of raised sections of platforms across the country to provide level boarding on to trains e.g. Harrington, Whaley Bridge and Ty Croes. However, these may not be suitable for all locations.
There are also 378 carriages forming 58 trains currently in service with Greater Anglia that have lower floor sections with in-built ramps. Under delivery are a further 133 carriages forming 35 trains for Transport for Wales and 208 carriages forming 54 trains for Merseyrail, all of which have in-built ramps.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the train cancellations announced by Avanti West Coast for the summer do not negatively impact tourist-related businesses in the coastal resorts of north Wales.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
Avanti West Coast (AWC) plans to maintain current service levels between London and North Wales throughout summer 2024. Network Rail engineering works over six weekend days between May and August 2024 will, however, close parts of the North Wales Coast Line to all operators, with temporary changes required to accommodate these.
The Department recognises the inconvenience that these works will cause, however, this investment in renewing and upgrading rail infrastructure is critical to meeting current and future needs of communities in North Wales. Alongside these crucial infrastructure works, AWC is working to introduce a brand-new fleet of bi-mode Hitachi trains offering more space and a quieter journey for passengers along the North Wales mainline.
Asked by: Stephen Crabb (Conservative - Preseli Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions officials in his Department have had with (a) Great Western Railway and (b) Network Rail on disruption to rail services to and from Wales during the construction of Old Oak Common Station.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Department is working with Network Rail, HS2 Ltd, Transport for London and Great Western Railway (GWR) to minimise disruption to rail passengers during Old Oak Common construction. Some GWR services will be diverted to London Euston, providing GWR passengers access to a central London terminal with numerous onward travel connections. Passengers could alternatively use Ealing Broadway station, as they did successfully during the December 2023 engineering works.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to address the problem of criminal gangs intentionally crossing police force borders to exploit weaknesses in policing methods.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We know serious and organised crime (SOC) does not respect police force borders which is why all police forces in England and Wales collaborate and share resources, funding and specialist capabilities to deliver Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs) to lead complex cross-border SOC investigations. There are nine ROCUs in England and Wales with equivalent capability in London.
Alongside approximately £70m in direct funding from the Home Office in 2023/24, Chief Constables, PCCs and Mayors with PCC functions have recently provided significant resource to the ROCU network by allocating 725 extra officers to ROCUs between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2023. Those officers are working in partnership now to tackle drugs supply and enablers, including firearms and criminal finances.
County lines is a major cross-cutting issue involving a range of criminality including drugs, violence, criminal gangs and child criminal exploitation, and involves the police, a wide range of Government departments, local government agencies and voluntary and community sector organisations. County lines gangs often export drugs across county borders from one police force area to another.
This Government is determined to crack down on county lines gangs which is why we are investing up to £145m over three years in our County Lines Programme to tackle the most violent and exploitative drug supply model yet seen. Through the County Lines Programme, we have established dedicated county lines taskforces in the four force areas exporting the majority of lines (MPS, Merseyside, West Midlands and Greater Manchester Police) as well as the British Transport Police to tackle the national rail network. We are also funding the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC), to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response. The NCLCC has been vital in strengthening the law enforcement response, promoting best practice, and enabling police forces to work together to tackle this complex issue.
Since the County Lines Programme was launched in 2019, police activity has resulted in over 5,600 line closures, over 16,500 arrests and over 8,800 safeguarding referrals. This includes over 2,500 line closures since April 2022, surpassing the Drugs Strategy commitment of over 2,000 line closures by April 2025. Having met this target in half the time, we have now committed to close a further 1,000 lines by August 2024, bringing the total since the Drugs Strategy was launched in April 2022 to over 3,000.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with Avanti West Coast on the withdrawal of the direct Euston to Shrewsbury service.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Department officials routinely engage with Avanti and its Owning Group over many areas, including timetabling decisions.
The Department specifies the train services to be operated by train companies including Avanti West Coast through National Rail Contracts. As part of industry wide efforts to align timetables to changing demand patterns and restore the financial stability of the railway, the Government asked all operators to present cost saving options. Due to very low passenger numbers, the service between Shrewsbury and London is currently operating at a loss of £1.4 million per year. We cannot ask taxpayers to maintain the historically high level of financial support for the industry indefinitely, so the service will be withdrawn from June 2024. West Midlands Railway (WMR) and Transport for Wales provide sufficient capacity for passengers between Shrewsbury and Birmingham, and the Department has agreed that WMR will introduce a second hourly Birmingham to Shrewsbury semi-fast service in June 2024 to operate via the Stour Valley and provide quicker journey time between Shropshire towns and Birmingham.