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17 Mar 2009 : Column 990W—continued
Lichfield Trent Valley Station
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when Lichfield Trent Valley railway station will be (a) refurbished and (b) provided with disabled access to the platforms serving the southbound West Coast Main Line and the eastbound Birmingham line; and if he will make a statement. [263523]
Paul Clark: There are currently no plans to carry out work at Lichfield Trent Valley under the Access for All or National Stations Improvement Programmes. However, London Midland are exploring options with the local authority to redevelop the whole site to improve station facilities, provide additional car parking and if possible, provide step-free access to all platforms.
If such a project can be developed, we would welcome an application for partial funding from the Access for All Small Schemes fund. An accessible ticket machine has recently been installed and improvements to the toilet and waiting facilities are due in the summer. Information points, customer information screens and a public address system are also planned.
M1: Speed Limits
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport to what speed cameras the speed camera signs on gantries over the M1 motorway between junctions 8 and 9 relate; where such cameras are situated; how many speed cameras (a) are in place and (b) are to be put in place on the M1 motorway for the purpose of detecting the speed of vehicles; and where each is situated. [263391]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 16 March 2009]: The signs that can currently be found between junctions 8 and 9 on the M1 are there to advise road users that speed enforcement is taking place over this stretch of the motorway.
Currently there are no fixed cameras in place between junctions 8 and 9, as they have not yet been installed, but fixed cameras will be installed over the coming months. Police also operate in this area and will continue to enforce the national speed limit on this and other stretches of the M1.
There are currently 11 gantries in each direction between junctions 8 and 9 of the M1. One gantry in each direction includes the equipment to enforce the speed limit. There will be cameras over every lane in each direction.
Plans for the location of cameras on other sections of the M1 which are planned to be improved will be agreed nearer the time that the improvements are due to open.
M25
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent estimate he has made of the cost of widening (a) junctions 16 to 23 and (b) junctions 27 to 30 of the M25; and how much of this sum he expects to come from the public purse. [261607]
Paul Clark: Both of these widening schemes form part of the M25 design, build, finance and operate (DBFO) contract that is currently in the final stages of negotiation. The latest estimates of the cost of these widening schemes are based on the tendered prices submitted by the preferred bidder, Connect Plus. However, these are commercially sensitive until the contract is awarded.
The last estimate, prior to receipt of tenders for the DBFO contract, was made in July 2007. At that time the cost of widening junctions 16 to 23 was estimated at £697 million and junctions 27 to 30 at £583 million.
As these works are being procured through a private finance initiative (PFI) contract it is planned that they will funded by borrowings from the private sector which are recovered from the Highways Agency out of availability payments over the life of the contract. These payments are subject to contractor performance. In light of current financial circumstances the Government may elect to lend to the project if insufficient private sector funds are available. However, this is not yet determined.
M62: East Riding
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the M62 motorway between Hull and the junction with the M18 to be clear of roadworks and lane closures in both directions; and if he will make a statement. [263535]
Paul Clark: Current roadworks on the M62 between Hull and the M18 are the Balkholme to Gilberdyke major resurfacing scheme and the replacement of Addle Lane Bridge between junctions 37 and 38.
This work is planned for completion in June 2009 when traffic management and any lane closures on the M62 will be fully removed.
Railway Stations: Disabled
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of (a) railway stations and (b) transport interchanges have local taxi facilities which are accessible to disabled people. [263008]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not hold the information requested as this is matter for local authorities.
Railways: Franchises
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 12 February 2009, Official Report, column 2132W, on railways: franchises, what research his Department has (a) undertaken and (b) evaluated on assumptions about (i) economic growth and (ii) passenger volumes in the franchise agreements for these lines in the last 12 months. [261513]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport monitors revenues on all franchises, and forms an internal view about likely future trends as part of its routine monitoring of franchisees. The Department is also carrying out research looking at a large sample of passenger flows across England, Wales and Scotland in order to improve our understanding of how economic and other factors have influenced the growth in rail patronage in recent years. This is due to complete at the end of 2009, and will be used to inform the Department’s forecasting work.
Railways: Freight
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent in each region on rail freight grants in each of the last 10 years. [261888]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 9 March 2009]: There are two types of rail freight grants:
revenue support for the operation of rail services; and
capital funding for the construction of freight facilities.
In both cases grants are justified by the environmental benefits of removing lorry traffic from the roads.
Figures in this answer relate to grants awarded by: the Department for Transport; the Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR); the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR); and the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA).
Revenue support grants fund services that could pass through a number of regions and therefore a region by region breakdown is not possible. The following table gives the budget for revenue grants for each of the past 10 years:
| Budget (£ million) | |
The allocation shown for 2007-08 and 2008-09 is provided through the Sustainable Distribution Fund. Of this £17 million was provided for rail resource grants in 2007-08 and our current forecasts show £19.4 million likely to be provided in 2008-09.
Capital grants awarded for facilities in regions of England over the past 10 years are shown in the following
table. Grants provided for moveable assets are not included as a region cannot be assigned. The benefits of reduced lorry traffic as a result of a grant awarded will generally not be limited to the region in which the facility is located.
| £ | ||||||||
| Regions | 1999-00 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
The SRA suspended the Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) programme for most rail projects in 2003, although grants continued to be available for aggregate-based facilities through the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund. FFGs were reintroduced for all rail schemes by the Department in April 2007.
Railways: Statistics
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what rail datasets held by his Department supply data broken down by (a) constituency, (b) local authority, (c) county and (d) region. [262454]
Paul Clark: The rail datasets held by the Department for Transport that can supply data by constituency, local authority, county and region are the National Rail Travel Survey (NRTS) and the national rail element of the 2001 London Area Transport Survey (LATS).
Road Traffic
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on shared space initiatives in the last five years. [262934]
Paul Clark: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I have given today (UIN 262452).
Road Traffic: Suffolk
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average daily flow of (a) heavy goods vehicles and (b) other vehicles was on each section of the (i) A11 and (ii) A14 in Suffolk in each of the last five years. [263430]
Paul Clark: A table providing annual average daily flows (AADFs) of (a) heavy goods vehicles and (b) other vehicles on each section of the (i) A11 and (ii) A14 in Suffolk has been deposited in the Libraries of the House.
These figures give estimates of the number of vehicles travelling along individual sections of road on an average day of the year. Two sections of the A14 in Cambridgeshire have been included for continuity.
The figures provided in the table are for the period 2003-07. More recent data for 2008 will be released in June 2009. AADF data for individual motorway and ‘A’ road links for 1999 to 2007 are available on our website at:
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