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19 Nov 2003 : Column 924W—continued
Freight
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much freight in (a) actual and (b) percentage terms was carried by (i) road, (ii) rail and (iii) water in each year from 1974 to date. [133111]
Dr. Howells: The information requested is as follows:
Source :
(4) Road and water—DfT ; Rail—Strategic Rail Authority ; Pipeline—DTI
From 1991 figures for rail are for financial years ie 1991/92 etc, and from 1998 are calculated on a new basis.
(5) The increase in 1990 is largely due to changes in coverage
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Heathrow Pollutants
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what research he has commissioned on methods of maintaining levels of nitrogen dioxide around Heathrow Airport within EU limits; [138839]
- (2) whether a third runway at Heathrow Airport would remain an acceptable option in the forthcoming Aviation White Paper in the event that relevant pollutants could not be contained within EU limits; [138841]
(3) what assessment his Department has made of the action plan to minimise emissions from Heathrow Airport which BAA plc was required to produce as a condition of the planning permission for the fifth terminal. [138842]
Mr. McNulty: The Government has reviewed a wide range of evidence, including information contained within the BAA pic Air Quality Strategy and Action Plan, in considering the future development of Heathrow. The Government remains of the view that a new runway at Heathrow could not be considered unless it could be confident that levels of all relevant pollutants could be consistently contained within EU limits. Final decisions will be announced in the forthcoming air transport White Paper.
Missile Incidents
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many incidents since 1997 have been caused by missiles thrown from bridges over (a) motorways and (b) trunk roads. [138882]
Mr. Jamieson: Police and Highways Agency procedures for recording details of incidents on motorways and trunk roads do not support identifying those caused by missiles being thrown from bridges.
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures the Government is taking to reduce the number of incidents caused by missiles thrown from bridges over motorways and trunk roads. [138883]
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Mr. Jamieson: The Agency is tackling the problem of missiles thrown from bridges and trunk roads in several different ways.
These include education initiatives, visits to schools by Police and local Road Safety officers, to make younger children more aware of the consequences of this type of activity. The Agency is also looking to support the Police in implementing additional enforcement measures, including increased CCTV coverage and warning notices on the approaches to problem sites. The Agency has also incorporated guidance on measures to prevent missile throwing within the latest version of its standard for the design of footbridges.
NM Rothschild and Sons Ltd
Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on services provided to his Department by NM Rothschilds since 1997. [139967]
Mr. McNulty: The Department was formed in May 2002. No services have been provided to the Department by NM Rothschilds.
Rail Industry
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to take back into full public ownership (a) rail operations, (b) full responsibility for track renewal and (c) London Underground; and if he will make a statement. [137898]
Mr. McNulty: The Government aims to deliver a safer, more reliable and efficient rail system.
What is essential is for the public and private sector working together to focus on delivering improvements. Major structural change can be disruptive and would detract effort from making improvements to the day to day management of the network.
Network Rail have said they will continue to use contractors to carry out renewals, upgrading lines or installing a new signalling system—areas where there is
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a competitive supply market. This work is typically carried out on a project basis, making use of a specialist workforce and is well-suited to competitive tendering.
Responsibility for London Underground (LUL) transferred from central Government to Transport for London, an agency of the London Mayor on 15 July 2003. It is now for London Underground, working with the infrastructure companies, to ensure the stable long-term funding that Government is providing is used to bring the Tube up to modern standards.
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessments his Department has made of the potential of high-speed rail as an alternative to short-haul flights. [139354]
Mr. McNulty: Scope for the railways to provide an alternative to short-haul air services was among the many issues on which we invited views in our consultation on the future development of air transport in the United Kingdom.
We will set out our conclusions in the air transport White Paper, which we expect to publish next month.
John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place a list of the stations which have secure station accreditation in the Library. [139743]
Mr. McNulty: The list of the 163 stations currently accredited under the Secure Stations Scheme has been placed in the House Library today. Seventy three of these stations have been reaccredited.
Approximately two thirds of all overground rail journeys, and approximately one half of all London Underground journeys now involve passengers starting or finishing their journey at a Secure Station.
Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many new train carriages will be ready for use by December but cannot be used due to insufficient power supply. [133039]
Mr. McNulty: Over 2,000 new carriages are being introduced to replace all the slam-door trains—most of which are over 30 years old—across the three south-of-the-Thames franchises. Railtrack failed to plan for the associated upgrade of the power supply. The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) now has a grip on the project and expects to complete it early in 2005. Meanwhile, many of the new carriages are already in service and none is in store because of power shortages. As deliveries continue, around a 100 out of over 2,000 new carriages may be stored by December, but the SRA is leading work on ways in which they might be introduced into service using existing power supplies.
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress is being made towards reducing the train journey time between London and Manchester; and if he will make a statement. [134556]
Mr. McNulty: Work is currently underway to modernise the West Coast Main Line which will substantially reduce the current journey time of two hours 41 minutes. The Strategic Rail Authority's West Coast Main Line Strategy, published in June 2003, projects a reduction in minimum journey times between London and Manchester of around 40 minutes by 2007.
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