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17 Dec 2007 : Column 1186W—continued

Railways: South East Region

Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the likely effect on rates of passenger car usage in the region served by the South Eastern rail franchise in 2008 as a result of recent changes to fares under the franchise. [173232]

Mr. Tom Harris: An assessment was made prior to the re-letting of the South Eastern franchise. This incorporated value for money testing of each franchise specification option, which included the proposal for inflation plus 3 per cent. on regulated fares. This proposal showed passenger growth in excess of that forecast for the country as a whole in the present White Paper and these estimates formed the basis of what was contractualised in the South Eastern franchise.

So far, South Eastern passenger journeys have increased by 5 per cent. in 2007, the first year of the RPI+3 regime for regulated fares.

The Department continues to listen to the representations of train operators and has invited Passenger Focus to take a greater role in commenting on the specification of future franchises.

Roads: Accidents

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road accidents which caused (a) injury and (b) death there were on roads in (i) Ribble Valley and (ii) Lancashire in each of the last five years, broken down by age and sex of the victims. [174444]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of reported personal injury road accidents which caused (a) injury (serious or slight) and (b) death in (i) Ribble Valley and (ii) Lancashire in each of the last five years, broken down by age and gender of the casualty is shown in the tables.

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17 Dec 2007 : Column 1188W

Ribble Valley( 1)
Number of accidents
		2002		2003		2004		2005		2006
Gender	Age	Injury	Fatal	Injury	Fatal	Injury	Fatal	Injury	Fatal	Injury	Fatal
Male	Under 17	32	2	27	1	38	0	39	0	37	2
	17-19	34	2	30	1	41	1	32	1	41	0
	20-24	39	2	34	4	28	2	45	4	45	1
	25-29	26	1	29	3	24	2	29	0	30	2
	30-34	30	2	28	1	28	0	32	2	22	1
	35-39	23	0	29	1	27	0	25	1	28	2
	40-49	39	1	43	0	38	0	45	2	41	1
	50-59	29	0	22	0	33	0	39	1	28	0
	60-69	19	0	15	0	23	1	13	0	14	2
	70+	16	3	10	2	11	0	20	2	15	1
	Total(2)	241	7	236	7	248	2	272	11	242	6
Female	Under 17	30	0	23	1	28	0	30	0	21	0
	17-19	31	2	23	0	15	0	22	0	24	3
	20-24	19	1	28	0	29	0	26	0	29	1
	25-29	23	1	14	0	18	0	17	0	27	1
	30-34	20	0	24	0	31	0	19	0	20	0
	35-39	13	1	21	0	18	0	27	0	31	0
	40-49	38	0	30	0	33	0	28	1	35	0
	50-59	28	0	21	0	22	0	27	0	12	0
	60-69	15	0	22	0	16	0	13	1	13	0
	70+	16	2	15	2	18	1	12	1	14	0
	Total(2)	202	4	187	3	187	1	185	3	192	3

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