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Rail Safety
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if it is his policy to enforce the transition to cup and cone train linkages by the end of 2003. [26309]
Mr. Spellar: The Railway Safety Regulations 1999 require Mark 1 passenger rolling stock to be modified by the end of 2002, and to be withdrawn from service by the
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end of 2004. Enforcement of these regulations rests with the Health and Safety Executive. The Executive can grant exemptions from the requirements, but I understand that no application for exemption has yet been received.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what further measures he will put in place to control the quality of maintenance and repair of rail tracks and other track infrastructure. [26070]
Mr. Spellar: Railtrack has the legal duty to ensure that the infrastructure is properly maintained. This involves ensuring that work undertaken by its infrastructure contractors is of proper quality.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what action he is taking to measure and control the quality of train wheel maintenance. [26069]
Mr. Spellar: Individual train companies are responsible under health and safety law for the maintenance and replacement of train wheels to ensure they remain safe. Railtrack, train operators, rolling stock suppliers and infrastructure maintainers are co-operating to implement measures aimed at improving the quality of the wheel-rail interaction.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what proportion of derailments have been caused by (a) track failures, (b) train wheel failures and (c) foreign items on the track, in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [26071]
Mr. Spellar: The Health and Safety Executive does not classify derailments in the form requested. Track failures and train wheel failures are both classified as track defects by Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate. The number of derailments due to different types of defects during the last five years is shown in the table.
| 1996–97 | 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Locomotive | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Carriages | 6 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 7 |
| Track | 46 | 36 | 53 | 39 | 29 |
| Signalling apparatus | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Over-line equipment | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other structures | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Combined defects | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Traction and Braking shocks | 1 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 5 |
| Total | 60 | 49 | 75 | 50 | 46 |
Derailments specifically due to foreign objects are not separately classified. They are included in the figures as follows.
| 1996–97 | 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snow, landslides, floods, etc. | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Animals on line | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Vandalism | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| Level crossing | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | 6 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 12 |
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the impact ambient temperature has on rail track failures. [26056]
Mr. Spellar: The assessment of impact ambient temperatures on rail track failures is a matter for Railtrack. They have undertaken considerable research to understand the relationship between temperature and the effect on
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track failure and have implemented necessary control measures.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the impact of train weight on rail track failures; and if he plans to introduce new weight regulations. [26057]
Mr. Spellar: Controls on the routing of trains already take account of their weight and restrictions apply on certain routes. There are no proposals to introduce new train weight regulations.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to restrict train speed and weight to prevent track failures. [26074]
Mr. Spellar: Railtrack have information on traffic flows using their infrastructure and are responsible for ensuring the proper level of maintenance and replacement of the track in order to keep it in a safe condition.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many derailments have occurred in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [26075]
Mr. Spellar: The numbers of derailments reported to the Health and Safety Executive in the last five years are shown in the table.
| Total derailments | |
|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 119 |
| 1997–98 | 93 |
| 1998–99 | 117 |
| 1999–2000 | 89 |
| 2000–01 | 93 |
Further information of derailments and other railway safety data can be found in the Chief Inspector of Railways annual reports on railway safety, copies of which are available in both House Libraries.
Ministerial Meetings
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when (a) he and (b) his ministerial colleagues last met officials from the RMT. [26298]
Mr. Spellar: Ministers meet representatives of railway trade unions and other relevant organisations in the industry on a regular basis.
Bus Fuel Rebate Scheme
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how much was paid (a) in total and (b) to individual bus companies under the bus fuel rebate scheme in each of the last seven years. [26054]
Ms Keeble: Total expenditure on bus fuel duty rebate in Great Britain in each of the last seven years was as follows.
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| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1994–95 | 224 |
| 1995–96 | 229 |
| 1996–97 | 228 |
| 1997–98 | 227 |
| 1998–99 | (16)271 |
| 1999–2000 | (17)333 |
| 2000–01 | (18)362 |
(16) England £222 million
(17) England £277 million
(18) England £301 million
From 1998–99 onwards my Department has been responsible for funding rebate payments to bus operators only in England; the totals are shown above. The funding of rebate payments to operators in Scotland and Wales is now the responsibility of the Scottish Executive and National Assembly for Wales respectively, though my Department continues to administer those payments at their request.
There are some 1,800 operators who receive the rebate. The amounts received by individual claimants are regarded as commercially confidential.
Traffic Signs
Dr. Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will place in the Library a copy of the 1989 Guildford Demonstration Project research into traffic sign conspicuity. [26063]
Ms Keeble: The Guildford Direction Signs Demonstration Project trialled a series of measures aimed at improving the overall quality of direction signs and making them easier for drivers to follow. No formal report was published, but the lessons learned were incorporated into the new Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions which came into force in 1994. Guidance on the correct use and design of signs was published in 1994 in Local Transport Note 1/94 "The Design and Use of Directional Informatory Signs" and 2/94 "Directional and Informatory Signs Interim Design Notes". The latter was superseded in 1997 by Chapter 7 of the Traffic Signs Manual "The Design of Traffic Signs". All were published by the Stationery Office.
London Buses
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many (a) bus services and (b) night bus services in London were cancelled due to (i) breakdowns and (ii) lack of drivers, on a borough basis in each year since 1997. [26456]
Ms Keeble: This is a matter for Transport for London (TfL). However, TfL have provided the following information which may be helpful.
Bus services in London are competitively tendered and run under contract to TfL by a number of private bus operating companies. Service losses are measured in terms of bus kilometres and used as one of the key performance indicators of service delivery.
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Performance since 1997–98 is shown in the table. It is not possible to give figures for kilometres not operated broken down by borough. Bus routes, by their nature, cross borough boundaries and very few routes run wholly within one borough.
The two main categories of lost kilometres shown are:
- Staff—resulting from journeys cancelled owing to the lack of a driver and/or a conductor.
Engineering—resulting from journeys cancelled or curtailed owing to the lack of a suitable vehicle or because of mechanical breakdown.
| Percentage of scheduled kilometres lost due to: | Scheduled | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial year | Staffing | Engineering | kilometres (Million) |
| 1997–98 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 348 |
| 1998–99 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 350 |
| 1999–2000 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 364 |
| 000–01 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 374 |
| 2001(19) | 1.2 | 0.5 | 289 |
(19) 1 April to 28 December
In 2000–01 1 per cent. of scheduled kilometres were not operated by night buses. Of this, 0.8 per cent. was due to staffing and 0.2 per cent. due to mechanical reasons.
Separate data for night bus services are not available for years before 2000–01.
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