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Ministerial Journeys
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many ministerial journeys he has made on public transport in each of the last five years. [86409]
Gillian Merron: Since the Department for Transport was formed on 29 May 2002, my right hon. friend the Secretary of State and his predecessor have made 221 journeys on ministerial business using scheduled public transport for which the Department has paid. The number undertaken in each financial year is:
| Number | |
| (1)Up
to 5 July 2006. | |
No information is available on short journeys which may have been made using public transport locally during the course of visits or in undertaking visits within London.
Ministerial Offices
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many times his ministerial office has been decorated in each of the last five years. [87637]
Gillian Merron: The Secretary of State’s office has been decorated once in the last five years, in 2002-03.
Nightstar Rolling Stock
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who received the revenue from the sale to Canada of Nightstar rolling stock; and if he will make a statement. [82437]
Derek Twigg: The proceeds from the sale were credited to London and Continental Railways.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent from public funds on the manufacture of Nightstar rolling stock; and if he will make a statement. [81628]
Derek Twigg: The order for Nightstar stock was placed in 1992 by European night services, a consortium of European railway operators, which included British Rail.
The financial consequences of the decision not to proceed with Nightstar services were described by my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions in his statement to the House of 3 June 1998.
Noise Hotspots
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he plans to publish the Highways Agency’s report An Assessment of Noise Hotspots Alongside the M40. [88337]
Dr. Ladyman: The report has just been finalised and copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House. The report is to be published on the Highways Agency’s website shortly.
Noise Severity Index
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will alter the formula for calculating the noise severity index to take account of the local environment. [88319]
Dr. Ladyman: No. The calculation of the index is already carried out in such a way as to ensure resources are targeted at locations where noise levels are greatest and where the greatest number of people would derive benefit from the measures taken.
North London Line
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many journeys were subject to delays on the North London line in each year since 1997. [87716]
Derek Twigg: The information is not held by the Department in the format requested. Information on delayed trains is held by Network Rail.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) assaults and (b) robberies there were on the North London line in each year since 1997. [87719]
Derek Twigg: This information is not held by the Department for Transport. Information relating to assaults and robberies on the North London line is held by the British Transport police who can be contacted at: British Transport police, 25 Camden Road, London NW1 9LN, E-mail: general.enquiries@btp.pnn.police.uk.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many freight journeys there were on the North London line in each year since 1997. [87720]
Derek Twigg: The Department for Transport does not hold this information.
Official Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on how many occasions he has visited each region in an official capacity in the last 12 months. [84010]
Gillian Merron: Between 1 July 2005 and 30 June 2006 the current Secretary of State and his predecessor visited the English regions on departmental business as set out in the following table:
| Region | Number of visits |
Outsourcing
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what administrative functions for which his Department is responsible are outsourced overseas; and what assessment he has made of the merits of outsourcing further such functions overseas. [81556]
Gillian Merron: The Department and its component agencies have no administrative functions outsourced overseas. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has, in the past, looked at outsourcing its customer call centre function. This option was rejected following a full analysis of the economic and social impact and the potential effect on customer service levels.
Parliamentary Questions
Mrs.
Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for
Transport what guidance he issues to officials in his
Department on the use of publicly available information such as external
websites in answers to parliamentary questions.
[84411]
Gillian Merron: The approach taken by departmental staff is that where the information requested in parliamentary questions is easily available, such as in the House Libraries or on websites, hon. Members are advised accordingly.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many parliamentary questions tabled to his Department were awaiting a reply on 10 July 2006; which of those had been waiting longer than (a) two and (b) three weeks for a reply; and what the reason for the delay was in each case. [85197]
Gillian Merron: As at 19 July 2006, 35 Department for Transport parliamentary questions which were due to be answered on 10 July 2006 or before were awaiting a reply, one of which has been waiting more than two weeks.
Passenger Transport Executives
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 11 July 2006, Official Report, column 1700W, on the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, what the equivalent figures are for each of the other Passenger Transport Executive areas. [85913]
Gillian Merron: The total funds allocated by the Department for Transport in the annual settlement and in grants to Passenger Transport Executives in England are shown in the following table. These totals include funding for rail, bus services and local transport. In the case of rail and bus service funding, these allocations are entirely in the form of grant. Local Transport Plan funding covers integrated transport block (for small schemes), maintenance and major projects, and is allocated as a combination of capital grant and supported borrowing. 2005-06 figures are provisional and subject to audit.
| £ million | |||||
| Passenger Transport Executive | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 |
Questionnaires
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) questionnaires, (b) statistical inquiries and (c) investigations have been carried out, wholly or partly at public expense on behalf of or by his Department in each year since 1997; and what the (i) nature, (ii) purpose and (iii) cost was of each. [83164]
Gillian Merron: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Rail Fares
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment has been made of the elasticity of demand of rail fares. [84687]
Derek Twigg: Rail fare demand elasticity is assessed and researched jointly by the Department and train operators. The findings are commercially confidential.
The Department also has a research programme to develop its own understanding of the relationship between fares and other demand factors. The first phase of this work is due to report during 2007.
Rail Freight Interchanges
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what environmental factors are taken into account when deciding where to grant permission for a rail freight interchange. [88609]
Derek Twigg: Granting of planning permission for freight interchanges is a matter for local authorities. Planning guidance is published by the Department for Communities and Local Government and is available on their web site at www.communities.gov.uk .
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will visit the proposed site for a rail freight interchange in Park Street, St. Albans. [88727]
Derek Twigg: The possible development of a rail freight interchange is a matter between the private sector developer and the local authority.
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria his Department took into account when deciding there was a need for four rail freight interchanges. [88728]
Derek Twigg: Consideration for the national provision of rail freight interchanges was undertaken by the Strategic Rail Authority. Their Strategic Rail Freight Interchange Policy was published in March 2004. The SRA has since been abolished but a copy of this document and a note of its current status is available on our website at www.dft.gov.uk.
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent studies have been undertaken on the capacity of the rail systems around London to accommodate freight; and if he will make a statement. [88729]
Derek Twigg: Network Rail will be publishing the Cross London Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS), which deals with the availability of rail capacity around London, towards the end of August 2006. A network-wide Freight RUS is also in the course of preparation, and a consultation draft will be available shortly.
Railways
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has established a working group in his Department to carry out a feasibility study into the potential of additional high speed rail lines. [82316]
Derek
Twigg: The Government have a manifesto commitment to look
at the feasibility and affordability of a new north-south high-speed
link. The Government have committed to take this forward in the
development of a long-term strategy for the railways, drawing on Sir
Rod Eddington’s advice on the long-term impact of transport
decisions on the UK’s productivity, stability and growth. The
Department has
established a working group to look at a range of options for
inter-urban rail travel including, but not restricted to, high speed
lines. The group’s work will contribute to the long term
strategy for the railways to be published in summer 2007.
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many passengers on average used the Cambridge to London rail service during peak hours in each of the last five years; and how many used the service in each year; [82591]
(2) what estimate his Department has made of the expected number of passengers using the rail service between Cambridge and London Liverpool Street during the course of the contract operated by One (a) during peak hours and (b) in total. [82599]
Derek Twigg: Table A shows the number of passengers arriving in the AM peak and departing in the PM evening peak at both London Kings Cross and London Liverpool Street from Cambridge for 2001 to 2005 inclusive.
Table B shows the number of passengers arriving in the AM peak and departing in the PM peak at London Liverpool Street from Cambridge for the years 2004 and 2005.
| Table A | ||
| Cambridge-London( 1) AM | London-Cambridge( 1) PM | |
| (1)
Figures are for arrivals and departures at both London Kings Cross and
London Liverpool Street. In 2004 service became ‘One’
Railway and now includes Cambridge trains previously operated by
WAGN. | ||
| Table B | ||
| Cambridge-London Liverpool Street AM | London Liverpool Street-Cambridge PM | |
Prior to the letting of the Greater Anglia franchise, the Department for Transport estimated in its specification for that franchise that the number of passengers using the West Anglia routes in the peak to be just under 20 million in 2001 and just above 21.5 million in 2011. It estimated the number of passengers using the West Anglia routes in the off peak to be 11 million in 2001 and forecast that it would be approximately 14 million by 2011.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps the Government have taken to improve rail services between Swindon and Westbury and at intermediate towns to provide transport alternatives for the new housing planned in the area. [84821]
Derek Twigg: Improving rail performance is a key objective for the Department for Transport. Joint action plans are in place between Network Rail and First Great Western to address performance issues, including the Swindon to Westbury route. These are monitored monthly.
Demand for rail services between Westbury and Swindon is concentrated at peak periods, and the Government have specified direct train services at these times.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which routes (a) are and (b) are expected by 2014 to be carrying trains which are loaded with passengers to a level that is in excess of capacity. [85566]
Derek Twigg: The Passengers in Excess of Capacity (PIXC) measure only applies to London commuter services.
The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) publishes PIXC figures in its National Rail Trends publication, the most recent version of which was published on 5 July 2006.
The document is on the internet at the following address http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/294.pdf and has been made available in the Library of the House.
Network Rail’s Route Utilisation Strategies forecast passenger demand and identify where this might exceed current peak capacity. Network Rail has recently published an overview of this in its Initial Strategic Business Plan for the period from 2008-09 to 2013-14.
The Department for Transport is now undertaking a network appraisal of passenger demand to inform the development of the High Level Output Specification, assisted by the work done by Network Rail. Increased passenger capacity is one of the three key outputs that will be sought through the HLOS, the others being safety and reliability. The HLOS will set out the railway the Government wish to procure for 2008-09 to 2013-14 and the funds it will make available for this, and will be published in July 2007.
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