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Travel Passes
Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the number of travel passes currently issued to (a) deaf and (b) other disabled people in (i) Ealing and (ii) other London boroughs; what were the equivalent figures for 1995; and if he will make a statement. [38264]
Mr. Norris: Information on permits issued for the period April 1996 to March 1998 is not yet available. For the period April 1994 to March 1996, London local authorities issued 62,365 permits to blind people and disabled people. The equivalent figure for the London borough of Ealing was 4,986. The number of permits issued to deaf persons is not recorded centrally.
Railtrack
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what powers he has to ensure that the majority of shares in Railtrack remain in the ownership of United Kingdom-based investors. [38532]
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what powers he has to remove Railtracks's operating licence. [38534]
Mr. Watts: The terms as to revocation of Railtrack's network and station operating licences are contained in the schedule to those licences. The Secretary of State may, after consultation with the regulator, and in the case of the network licence, the franchising director, revoke the licences on three months notice in certain circumstances including:
by agreement with Railtack; or
non-compliance by Railtrack within three months with an enforcement order in respect of a contravention or apprehended contravention of a licence condition; or
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- a person obtaining control of Railtrack which the Secretary of State has not approved and the Secretary of State serves notice of revocation unless that person ceases to have control and the required cessation does not take place; or
in the case of the network licence only, cessation of licensed activities for a continuous period of one year.
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of the shares of Railtrack are currently owned by investors based outside the United Kingdom. [38533]
Mr. Watts: This is a matter for Railtrack.
Rolling Stock
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list for each of the rail franchises let, the number of mark 1 rolling stock projected to be in operation for the years 1997 to 2003. [38524]
Mr. Watts: No. It is not possible to project with accuracy what vehicles will be in service over the period 1997 to 2003. The number and type of vehicles that franchise operators use for services will depend on, among other things, changes in passenger demand, the level of services offered in excess of the passenger service requirement, the productivity improvements that franchise operators are able to achieve, and any safety requirements of the Health and Safety Executive.
I have set out in the table details of the rolling stock at the time each franchise was offered for tender in respect of its mark 1 fleet and any subsequent obligations that the successful franchise has entered into the respect of these vehicles.
LTS Rail
It is expected that the 28 units of the class 302 fleet which are of mark 1 construction will be replaced completely by modern class 317 units displaced from West Anglia Great Northern following the introduction of class 365/5 stock to WAGN in due course.
South West Trains
At franchising the South West Trains fleet included seven class 412 units, 34 class 421 units and 77 class 423 units which are all of Mark 1 construction and represent 46 per cent. of that fleet by number of vehicles.
Network SouthCentral
At franchising the Network SouthCentral fleet included 15 class 20X units, 78 class 421 units 23 class 422 units and 39 class 423 units which are of mark 1 construction and represent 66 per cent. of that fleet by number of vehicles.
Gatwick Express
The existing fleet is not of Mark 1 construction, but the franchise operator is planning to replace it in 1999 with a new fleet as a condition of a longer franchise period.
Great Western, InterCity East Coast, Midland Main Line
These Train Operating Companies have no mark 1 vehicles in their existing fleets.
Railtrack (Debt Management)
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what arrangements have been made for the management of the debts of Railtrack transferred to a Government-owned company. [38588]
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Mr. Watts: The Department of Transport is responsible for the management of the Railtrack debts transferred to DoA Ltd., a company wholly owned by the Crown.
British Railways Board Subsidiaries
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many subsidiaries of the British Railways Board have closed down having failed to find a buyer since 1992; and how many jobs have been lost as a result. [38547]
Mr. Watts: The following businesses of the British Railways Board have closed having failed to find a buyer. The number of posts for each of these businesses is also listed; BR's policy is to redeploy staff where possible. The number of actual redundancies would have been less.
| Posts | |
|---|---|
| Taunton Concrete Works | 37 |
| Grove Management Development | 25 |
| Materials Engineering Group | 31 |
Rail Privatisation
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the amount spent on (i) accountants, (ii) consultants, (iii) lawyers and (iv) other professionals in relation to railway privatisation for each year since 1992. [38586]
Mr. Watts: Expenditure by my Department, the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising and the Office of the Rail Regulator since 1992-93 is as follows:
| 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accountants | 1,702 | 1,992 | 5,035 | 8,837 |
| Lawyers | 1,393 | 4,679 | 10,659 | 17,479 |
| Other consultants and professionals | 2,405 | 5,757 | 11,665 | 25,401 |
Expenditure by British Rail and Railtrack is a matter for the organisations themselves, but we understand that their total privatisation costs to the end of 1995-96:
| 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Rail | -- | 92 | 85 | 101 |
| Railtrack | -- | -- | 46 | 32 |
Any breakdown of the figures for BR and Railtrack would be for the organisations themselves to provide.
Office of Passenger Rail Franchising
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the percentage of existing timetables which have been guaranteed in each of the passenger service requirements and draft passenger service requirements so far published by Opraf. [38526]
Mr. Watts: No. The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Moreover, a percentage for each passenger service requirement--PSR--would be an average and thus not reflect the basis
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on which PSRs are prepared. When drawing up PSRs, the franchising director is required by his instructions and guidance from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to consider each service individually and not services for the franchise as a whole. The differing characteristics of the many services operated under each franchise are thus reflected in the individual specifications include din PSRs.
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what instructions he has given to Opraf to ensure that franchise operators provide services which connect with one another. [38527]
Mr. Watts: The franchising director is required by his instructions and guidance from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to encourage co-operation between operators to preserve and promote arrangements which facilitate the making of journeys which involve the use of services provided by more than one operator. In line with this, each franchise agreement includes provisions requiring operations to co-operate in the development of timetables so as to secure the provision of reasonable connections between services. In addition, the franchising director may specify connections in passenger service requirements where he believes these are of particular importance.
Aircraft Accident Simulation
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research has been undertaken by (a) his Department and (b) the Civil Aviation Authority into the development of a computer model to simulate real aircraft accident conditions. [38553]
Mr. Norris: The Civil Aviation Authority has carried out extensive work in the development of computer models to simulate passenger evacuation in emergencies. To be of use, such models must predict real life with an acceptable level of accuracy. The CAA is currently collecting data from all possible sources to compare the predictions of computer models with actual outcomes. When this work is completed, the potential value of computer models will become clearer.
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