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3 Feb 2009 : Column 1135W—continued
National Rail Enquiries also have a lead role in providing comprehensive timetabling information. They are currently updating their data to assist the public in planning their journey to and from the station, including adding timetable information for other modes of transport.
Station Travel Plans aim to provide the best access options to the station. The 24 pilot schemes currently running will consider rescheduling timetables to ensure better integration of public transport services.
The Department is also working with the industry to support this and other initiatives in integration across different modes of public transport.
Work is under way on an integrated ticketing strategy for England. This will cover buses, trains, coaches, taxis and parking and the intention is to publish a consultation paper in the late spring. Officials are currently meeting informally with key stakeholders to inform development of the consultation paper. However, there are a considerable number of integrated tickets already available. These include multi-modal tickets such as Travelcards in London, the, ‘Kangaroo Ticket’ in Nottingham and ‘PlusBus’, which provides a simple add-on bus option to rail tickets at either or both ends of a journey.
Railway Stations: Closures
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many manned railway stations have been permanently closed in each of the last five years. [251780]
Paul Clark: The following stations in England have closed in each of the last five years (closures in Scotland and Wales are a devolved matter):
| Station | |
|
West Ham, Canning Town, Custom House and Stratford Low Level(1) | |
| (1) National Rail platforms closed as part of the new DLR line from Stratford International to Canning Town. | |
Railway Stations: Merseyside
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps are being taken to improve standards of (a) seating, (b) shelter and (c) passenger facilities at rail stations in Merseyside. [253189]
Paul Clark: Stations in Merseyside are eligible for funding from the national stations improvement programme (NSIP) and the access for all programme. In particular, the national stations improvement programme can be used to provide improved seating, shelters and passenger facilities. On 23 January, the Minister of State opened the newly refurbished Sandhills station, which benefited from funding under the access for all programme.
Railways: Fares
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will bring forward proposals to require the Association of Train Operating Companies to introduce railcards for persons over 25 years of age for train journeys (a) commencing and (b) ending outside South East England; and if he will make a statement. [252988]
Paul Clark: The Government have no present proposals to require the Association of Train Operating Companies to introduce any additional railcards on the National Rail network.
Railways: Finance
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding his Department has allocated for new railway infrastructure in each year since 1997 and in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11. [253313]
Paul Clark: Network Rail is responsible for investing in the majority of new railway infrastructure in the United Kingdom. The company is funded through a combination of direct grants from Government and track access charges levied on train operators.
Details of Government expenditure on the railway as a whole, as well as investment in rail by the rail industry are set out in “National Rail Trends”, which is published by the Office of Rail Regulation. Copies of “National Rail Trends” are available in the Library of the House and on the ORR's website at:
Details of the Government's plans for future investment in the railway years are set out in the White Paper “Delivering a Sustainable Railway”, which was published and announced to Parliament on 24 July 2007. This can be found on the Department for Transport website at:
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to establish a regional rail budget to allow local transport authorities to (a) re-open closed rail stations and (b) open new rail stations. [253805]
Paul Clark: There are no proposals to establish a regional rail budget. Regions can consider investment in rail schemes alongside other transport schemes when determining priorities in the use of their regional funding allocation (RFA).
Railways: Merseyside
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the average level of ridership on rail services in Merseyside in each of the last two years. [253190]
Paul Clark: Statistics on rail passenger numbers are published by the Office of Rail Regulation (QRR) in the National Rail Trends Yearbook, which is available in the House Library, or from the ORR website:
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of trains in Merseyside ran no more than five minutes late in the last 12 months. [253191]
Paul Clark: In the last 12 months, 94.7 per cent. of trains operated by Merseyrail were no more than five minutes late at their destination.
Other companies provide train services in this area, but the Department for Transport does not hold information specific to Merseyside for these operators.
Railways: Standards
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his most recent assessment is of the performance of train operating companies against their targets; and if will make a statement. [253186]
Paul Clark: The public performance measure of rail punctuality has risen to 90.8 per cent. in January 2009, up 1.6 per cent. in only a year. Performance is now at its best since this measure was introduced in 2000-01.
Train operators' franchise agreements contain minimum performance standards, and actual results compared with these are monitored on a regular basis.
Railways: Yorkshire and the Humber
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which train service on the (a) Trans-Pennine and (b) Northern network was the most overcrowded in 2008; and if he will make a statement. [252049]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not hold this information.
Roads: Accidents
Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance his Department has issued on the procedure to be followed by (a) police forces in England and Wales and (b) prosecutors in England and Wales in seeking to obtain access to data stored on vehicle data recording devices when investigating the causes of road traffic collisions; and if he will make a statement. [253093]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport has issued no guidance concerning access to data stored in vehicle data recording devices whether for accident investigation or any other purpose.
The fitting and use of electronic data recorders was the subject of debate during the passage of the Road Safety Bill.
Calls for data recorders were not adopted into the Road Safety Bill. It was noted that the subject was under discussion in the international arena and Government believed that this was the most appropriate forum for discussions about this technology.
Transport: Crosby
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how much his Department has spent on improving the transport infrastructure in Crosby since 2003; [253181]
(2) what (a) grants and (b) other assistance his Department has provided for the improvement of transport infrastructure in Crosby since 2003. [253187]
Paul Clark: Allocations provided by the Department for Transport to the Metropolitan borough of Sefton, which covers the Crosby constituency, since 2003 are shown in the following table. This funding is not ring-fenced and local authorities have discretion to spend their allocations in line with their priorities.
| Sefton | ||||
| £ million | ||||
| Integrated transport block | Highways maintenance | Other funding( 1) | Total local transport funding | |
| (1) Other funding covers revenue detrunking and bridge strengthening on the primary route network. | ||||
Sefton also benefits from funding support provided to the Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority. Revenue expenditure on transport is generally supported through the Department for Communities and Local Government's formula grant.
The Department spends funds on the strategic road network through the Highways Agency (HA). The HA's reporting systems do not record actual expenditure for local authority areas; expenditure is recorded by project and activity. Estimates are compiled for regional expenditure to supplement data reported in the Department's annual report.
Likewise, funding for other transport projects in England, such as rail projects, is not generally available on the basis of local authority boundaries.
Transport: Luton
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department and its predecessors have spent on (a) transport and (b) transport infrastructure in the Luton Borough Council area in each year since 1997. [252645]
Paul Clark: In addition to funds for specific major schemes, the Department for Transport allocates integrated transport block and highways maintenance funding to local transport authorities for general capital investment in transport. This funding is not ring-fenced and local authorities have discretion to spend their allocations in line with their priorities. Allocations provided to Luton borough council since 1997 are shown in the following table.
| £ million | |||||
| Integrated transport block | Highways maintenance | Specific road safety funding | Major schemes | Total local transport funding | |
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