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27 Jan 2009 : Column 299W—continued
Departmental Surveys
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department’s central media and communication unit spent on public surveys in each of the last three years. [247918]
Mr. Hoon: The information requested is as follows:
| £ | |
Driving Under Influence: Death
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people were killed in drink-driving related incidents in (a) England and (b) Leicester in the last year for which figures are available. [251743]
Jim Fitzpatrick: In England, it is estimated that 490 people were killed in 2006 in reported personal injury road accidents where one or more motor vehicle drivers or riders involved was over the legal alcohol limit.
Estimates of the number of drink-drive accidents or casualties are not available below Government office region level.
Heathrow Airport
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many additional aircraft movements arising from the construction of a third runway at Heathrow Airport he expects there to be in each of the years from 2020 to 2030. [250801]
Jim Fitzpatrick
[holding answer 26 January 2009]: We have made clear that our support for a third runway is subject to an aggregate limit of 605,000 annual movements, to be reviewed in 2020. Any further increase in capacity would depend on the outcome of that review and planning requirements. The review would
take into account developments such as the operation of the compliance mechanism for noise and air quality, progress with public transport access, the levels of resilience being achieved at the airport and advice from the Committee on Climate Change on progress towards meeting the UK’s carbon reduction targets.
Motorways: Repairs and Maintenance
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what assessment he has made of the likely effects of implementing the proposals for hard shoulder running on the (a) M1, (b) M25, (c) M6, (d) M62, (e) M3 and (f) M4 on the Highways Agency’s budget for the Programme of Major Schemes in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11, (iii) 2011-12, (iv) 2012-13 and (v) 2013-14; [250918]
(2) whether funds in excess of the proposed Highways Agency Programme of Major Schemes budget will be allocated to meet the cost of proposals for additional miles of motorway lanes. [250920]
Paul Clark [holding answer 26 January 2009]: On 15 January 2009 in “Britain’s Transport Infrastructure: Motorways and Major Trunk Roads” we announced the Highways Agency’s programme of national major schemes that we expect to enter construction by 2015, and that up to £6 billion had been allocated to fund this work.
In developing this programme of schemes part of the assessment undertaken to determine the timing and priority of schemes related to affordability and deliverability within expected budgets. An element of over-programming has been included to allow for uncertainty over the individual delivery programmes for schemes at an early stage in their development and the scope for the Highways Agency to realise efficiencies through technology and procurement developments. Allowing for over-programming the programme and the funding envelope announced on 15 January are consistent.
Budgets for the Highways Agency are set on an annual basis but they will be consistent with the overall figure given above.
Oxford-Cambridge Railway Line
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make an assessment of the merits of reopening the Oxford to Cambridge railway line; and if he will make a statement. [250975]
Paul Clark: The proposal to reopen the railway line between Oxford and Cambridge is being promoted, developed and assessed by a consortium of local authorities and regional bodies.
The Department for Transport maintains dialogue with the consortium and is prepared to consider railway reopening proposals which meet wider objectives, represent value for money and for which funding can be identified.
Parking: Fees and Charges
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions his Department has had with (a) the Department for Communities and Local Government and (b) HM Treasury on workplace parking charges in the last 12 months. [250750]
Paul Clark: Colleagues in other Departments, including Communities and Local Government and HM Treasury, were given the opportunity to comment on our proposals for regulations for workplace parking levy schemes, before we launched the consultation I announced on 11 December 2008.
Railways: Ashchurch
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make representations to Network Rail to reinstate the direct service from Ashchurch railway station to Birmingham New Street. [251973]
Paul Clark: Already, there are direct services from Ashchurch railway station to Birmingham New Street operated by Cross Country. Monday to Friday there are five services from Ashchurch to Birmingham New Street and three services in the opposite direction. Saturdays there are four services from Birmingham New Street and two in the opposite direction. There are no services on Sundays.
Railways: Bus Services
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how much his Department has spent on subsidising rail replacement bus services between Ealing Broadway station and Wandsworth Road station in the last five years; [247298]
(2) how many of the rail replacement bus services funded by his Department are not advertised to the public. [247300]
Paul Clark: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 26 January 2009, Official Report, column 10W.
Mindful of the requirements of relevant legislation, the Department for Transport is currently funding a rail replacement bus service between Ealing Broadway station and Wandsworth Road station. This service, which is a temporary measure until the Department can arrange a replacement rail service in this area, has been operating since 14 December 2008 at a four-weekly cost of £1,880 to the Department for Transport.
The Department intended the bus to be advertised from 14 December 2008. Following a contractual delay, the bus service has been advertised from the beginning of this week at the stations it is contracted to call at which are Ealing Broadway, Kensington Olympia and Wandsworth Road.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost has been of so-called ghost buses for replacement rail transport in each of the last five years. [247426]
Paul Clark: Rail replacement bus services have been operated as a temporary substitute for train services over sections of track between:
(1) Ealing Broadway and Wandsworth Road on a weekly basis since 14 December 2008 at a four-weekly cost of £1,880.
(2) Kensington Olympia and London Waterloo on a weekly basis between May and December 2004. The bus service was procured by the Strategic Rail Authority. The Department for Transport does not hold information on the cost of the bus service.
Rail replacement bus services have also been operated as a temporary substitute to:
(1) All train services to Barlaston, Wedgewood and Norton Bridge since May 2003.
(2) All train services to Stone between May 2003 and 13 December 2008.
(3) Some train services to Atherstone between May 2003 and 13 December 2008.
(4) Most train services to Polesworth between May 2003 and 13 December 2008.
The costs for these are not specifically identified as they are part of the overall subsidy payment for the London Midland franchise.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many rail replacement bus services have operated in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [247427]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not hold information on the number of rail replacement bus services operated because of engineering works.
Additionally, rail replacement bus services have been operated as a temporary substitute to train services over sections of track between:
(1) Ealing Broadway and Wandsworth Road on a weekly basis since 14 December 2008.
(2) Kensington Olympia and London Waterloo on a weekly basis between May and December 2004.
Rail replacement bus services have also been operated as a temporary substitute to:
(1) All train services to Barlaston, Wedgewood and Norton Bridge since May 2003.
(2) All train services to Stone between May 2003 and 13 December 2008.
(3) Some train services to Atherstone between May 2003 and 13 December 2008.
(4) Most train services to Polesworth between May 2003 and 13 December 2008.
Railways: Fares
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with train operating companies on recent increases in rail fares; and if he will make a statement. [247082]
Paul Clark: Ministers and officials meet regularly with train operating companies, and with the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) to discuss a range of issues relating to the railways, including fares.
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average rise in regulated rail fares from Chelmsford Station to London was in each year since 1997. [249977]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not hold the information in the form requested.
The Office of Rail Regulation publish data about the annual average increases in fares in National Rail Trends, which is available from their website at:
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent representations he has received on the effects on rail passengers of increases in regulated fares. [251091]
Paul Clark: The Secretary of State has not recently received any formal representations from any passenger representatives or user groups on this subject. There has been a nominal amount of individual correspondence, but only at volumes normally received just after the annual January increases.
Railways: Members
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent on subsidising parliamentary trains within the meaning of the Railways Act 1844 in each of the last 10 years. [247302]
Paul Clark: No funds have been spent in the last 10 years. Section 6 of the Railway Regulation Act 1844 was repealed by the Cheap Trains Act 1883.
Road Traffic: Tyne and Wear
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been paid to local authorities in Tyne and Wear for pilot projects designed to tackle congestion under the Transport Innovation Fund; under what budgetary headings those payments were made; and whether a final report on the outcome of each such pilot has been submitted to his Department. [250848]
Paul Clark: Tyne and Wear authorities received a total of £1.7 million pump priming funding from the Department for Transport’s Transport Innovation Fund. Payments were made under section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003. This funding was provided to assist in assessing the congestion problems and the role that demand management, including road pricing, alongside better public transport could play in tackling them and, if appropriate, to develop a TIF business case. We are awaiting the outcome of Tyne and Wear’s work.
Roads: Accidents
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent estimate his Department has made of the incidence of accidents on roads in the vicinity of schools where the speed limit is (a) 20mph and (b) 30mph. [251943]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Road Casualties Great Britain, published in September 2008, shows that there were 541 children aged 16 or under killed or seriously injured on journeys to or from school in 2007. This equates to one seventh of children aged 16 or under killed or seriously injured on our roads in 2007.
These statistics do not, however, specify whether the incident took place in the vicinity of a school.
Roads: Death
Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road fatalities were caused by drivers alleged to be over the legal blood alcohol limit during the period of the Government's Christmas and new year anti-drink-drive campaign in 2008-09. [251034]
Jim Fitzpatrick:
The information requested is not available. Provisional estimates of drink drive accidents
and casualties for 2008 will be published in August 2009. Final results will not be available until a year later due to coroners' data being available a year later than the main road collision data. Therefore final estimates can only be made eighteen months in arrears.
Roads: Salt
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has (a) evaluated, (b) commissioned and (c) undertaken on an alternative to sodium chloride for managing the effects of ice on roads. [251023]
Paul Clark: Sodium chloride is a cost-effective treatment for the prevention of ice forming and treatment of snow and ice. The Highways Agency has considered other approaches used elsewhere in the world, but there is little evidence to suggest there are cost effective alternatives suitable for the UK that would warrant research.
Alternatives, such as potassium acetate, are used on some major structures to reduce the potential for corrosion. However, such treatments are over 50 times more expensive than sodium chloride and so are not suitable network wide.
Recognising that the use of salt has environmental implications the Highways Agency’s research is focussing on reducing the amount of salt spread. Increasing use is being made of pre-wetted salt, which results in less loss of salt allowing spread rates to be reduced by up to 25 per cent.
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