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16 Nov 2005 : Column 1230W—continued

Major Improvement Projects

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of funds in the current
 
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spending review period are allocated to (a) railways, (b) major transport projects in London, including rail projects, (c) light rail, (d) other public transport major improvement projects and (e) aviation. [27940]

Ms Buck: DfT does not allocate funding on the basis of these particular categories, and so the information sought is not available in the form requested. However, a breakdown of budgets for Resource and Capital DEL by PSA objectives and spending areas is set out in Table A2 of the 2005 Annual Report (Cm 6527), a copy of which is in the House of Commons Library.

Mobile Phone Theft

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many mobile phones were stolen on the rail network in the past (a) 12 months, (b) two years and (c) five years. [26535]

Derek Twigg: The number of crimes recorded by the British Transport police in which mobile phones were stolen on the rail network (excluding London underground) over the last five years is given in the table:
PeriodNumber
1 November 2000 to 31 October 20015,971
1 November 2001 to 31 October 20028,106
1 November 2002 to 31 October 20038,876
1 November 2003 to 31 October 20048,579
1 November 2004 to 31 October 20057,188

Motorway Repairs

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance on good practice he has issued to (a) Highways Agency staff and (b) motorway police on closing lanes when members of the public have to repair a puncture on the driver's side of a vehicle; and if he will make a statement. [27645]

Dr. Ladyman: Highways Agency Traffic Officers are highly trained in many aspects of traffic management including closing lanes, if required, to allow drivers to deal with offside wheel changes.
 
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The guidance given to Traffic Officers is comprehensive, and covers the provision of personal safety advice to drivers, including leaving the vehicle and standing in a safe place, not attempting even simple repairs and not standing between the vehicle and other traffic. Where the motorist is a member of a recovery organisation, the Traffic Officer will make contact with that organisation to arrange for them to come and change the wheel. If the motorist is not in a recovery organisation, Traffic Officers will call one out, and the motorist will be charged for the service.

For large goods vehicles and passenger carrying vehicles, the guidance covers the need to consider closing a lane. Traffic Officers are trained in implementing lane closures, and under the Traffic Management Act they have the power to direct traffic accordingly.

The Agency has issued no advice to the police on this matter.

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many fatalities have occurred due to motorists having stopped on motorway hard shoulders (a) through breakdown and (b) for other reasons in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [27644]

Dr. Ladyman: The information available about accidents on the hard shoulder is based on data from STATS19 Accident Reporting. The data in STATS19 does not have the necessary information to enable the statistics on the two requested categories to be identified.

The information that is available covers the number of motorists killed, either in or from vehicles stopped on the hard shoulder or in vehicles travelling along, entering, and leaving a motorway hard shoulder. This information is provided in section 1 of the following table.

The total number of motorists killed, including those in the main carriageway, as a result of any accidents involving vehicles on hard shoulders of motorways, is provided in the table, section 2.
Number of fatal casualties on motorways (M and A(M)), 2000 to 2004 on the Highways Agency 2006 Trunk Road Network

ClassificationDateCasualty injury (fatal)
Section 1Fatal casualties associated with HS accidents—vehicles on, entering or leaving the hard shoulder (also pedestrians who were hit by such a vehicle)20004
20014
200213
20035
20041
Section 2All fatal casualties involved in HS accidents2000166
2001176
2002194
2003196
2004147




Source:
TRL (2005).





 
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National Port Traffic

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many 20ft equivalent units (TEUs) were (a) imported and (b) exported through the UK's 10 busiest ports in 2004–05; what percentage of each travelled to and from these ports by (i) rail and (ii) road; what the average distance of each TEU from the point of import to the TEU's final destination was; and what percentage of total TEU traffic through the UK's 10 busiest ports consisted of transshipment in 2004–05. [28083]

Dr. Ladyman: Estimates of container imports and exports through the UK's busiest ports in 2004, in terms of TEUs, are given in the following table.
Container traffic at UK ports 2004 (thousand TEUs)

ImportsExports
Felixstowe1,3381,300
Southampton735701
London525452
Medway315316
Liverpool254292
Hull166143
Belfast7072
Forth99100
Immingham7063
Tees and Hartlepool5970

The information given includes container transhipments. Transhipped container traffic, however, is not separately identified in the returns made by shipping lines and ports to the Department, and separate estimates are not available. Information about the percentage share of container traffic travelling to and from ports by rail and road is not available.

The average distances travelled by containers by road, from the port to the final destination, are given in the following table.
Estimated average distance travelled by container by road from port to final destination, 2004

PortKilometres
Felixstowe190
Southampton160
London110
Medway170
Liverpool100
Hull130
Belfast(3)90
Forth(3)60
Grimsby and Immingham150
Tees and Hartlepool(3)200


(3) Estimates based on a sample of less than 50 journeys.


Comparable information is not available for rail.

Railways

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he plans to announce his decision on the proposed train service changes along the Hastings to London Victoria line. [28216]

Derek Twigg [holding answer 14 November 2005]: An announcement on the draft Brighton Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy will be made in due course.
 
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Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to announce a new strategic north-south rail link. [25431]

Derek Twigg: The Government have asked Sir Rod Eddington to look at, among other things, the feasibility of a new north-south high-speed link. He will report to the Secretary of State in 2006.

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment has been made of the impact of increasing penalty fares on the railways to £20 earlier this year. [28076]

Derek Twigg: Revenue protection is the responsibility of each train operator. The increase in penalty fare has restored and slightly increased the real value of the penalty, which had remained unchanged at £10 since 1989. We expect this increase to help train operators reduce the amount of ticketless travel on their networks.

Regional Transport Funding

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding has been allocated for regional transport funding by each regional government office in each year since 1997–98; and how much is planned to be spent in each of the next three years, broken down by region. [28240]

Ms Buck: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I have given him today (UIN 27568).

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