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20 July 2009 : Column 760W—continued
Roads: Accidents
Mark Hunter: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will use the powers under section 180 (1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to provide for the establishment of investigations on the same basis as those conducted by air and rail accident investigation branches in order to determine the underlying causes of road traffic accidents. [287706]
Paul Clark: All fatal collisions on our roads are investigated in great detail by police accident investigators. We are working to improve the analysis of their data which will develop our understanding of the causes of these collisions and focus further measures to prevent deaths on the roads. This work is supplemented by detailed analysis of a sample of collisions by road safety researchers.
We see no case to duplicate this effort by establishing a road accident investigation branch. However, we recently proposed the establishment of an independent expert panel to look at the pattern of fatal accidents on our roads and, on the basis of that analysis, recommend ways to reduce further the number of deaths on our roads.
Roads: Safety
Mark Hunter: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the Second Special Report from the Transport Committee, HC 422, Further Government Response to the Eleventh Report of the Transport Committee of Session 2007-08, whether his Department has decided upon the creation of an anonymised database of selected information from police investigations which is not available from the Stats 19 database. [288508]
Paul Clark: The consultation document "A Safer Way" included the option of creating an anonymised database of selected information (not available from the Stats 19) from police investigations into fatal collisions. The consultation closed 14 July and we are now starting to analyse the responses received. We are continuing to review the availability of data on collisions with a view to improving our understanding of the causes of collisions.
Rolling Stock
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what orders for rail carriages have been placed to date under his Department's provision for new carriages under Delivering a Sustainable Railway; when he expects the remainder of such orders to be placed; and when he expects delivery of carriages arising from such orders to (a) commence and (b) be completed. [288043]
Chris Mole: 543 vehicles have been ordered to date.
Discussions are continuing with train operating companies for the additional vehicles and announcements on these orders will be made in due course.
Rolling Stock: Procurement
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport on what date he estimates that the (a) first and (b) last of the 202 new diesel train carriages will be delivered. [288277]
Chris Mole: We expect to make an announcement in due course.
Severn River Crossing
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what information he holds on the number of vehicles in category three which used the Severn Crossing in each of the last five years; and if he will make an estimate of the number of such vehicles registered in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland, (d) Scotland and (e) other EU member states which used that crossing in each such year. [288048]
Mr. Khan: The numbers of category 3 vehicles recorded travelling westbound on both Severn crossings in the last five years are recorded in the following table.
| 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | |
The number of category 3 vehicles registered in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and other EU member states which use the crossings is not known. The operator of the crossings, Severn River Crossing Plc, does not collate such data.
Transport: Costs
Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what research his Department has undertaken or evaluated on the external costs associated with (a) holiday flights and (b) private motoring, with particular reference to environmental costs. [287894]
Mr. Khan: The "Aviation Emissions Cost Assessment 2008", which focuses on climate change impacts, was published in July 2008. This research does not attempt to identify the impacts of 'holiday flights' separately from other flights.
A research report, "Surface Transport Costs and Charges" commissioned by the Department for Transport (DfT), provides estimates of the external costs of car use and was published August 2001.
A list of the current values for external costs used in transport appraisal is also available in DfT's online Transport Analysis Guidance 'Webtag':
Transport: Finance
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to proposals contained in the Building Britain's Future document, Cm 7654, how much funding his Department proposes to provide for (a) electrification of the railways, (b) a North-South high-speed rail line, (c) incentives for the take-up of low carbon buses and (d) a National Cycle Plan in the next five years; and when he expects such funding to be made available. [288188]
Chris Mole: The work electrifying the railways will be taken forward by Network Rail. Their costs will be added to their Regulated Asset Base, and reimbursed through Track Access Charges and Network Grant determined, in the usual way, by as part of the regulatory review process run by the Office of Rail Regulation.
"High Speed Two", the company set up by the Secretary of State for Transport to advise on the development of new high speed rail lines, has been asked to report by the end of the year on the planning, technological, capacity, value for money and funding issues involved. The Government will decide on future work programmes and funding mechanisms in the light of that advice.
In the meantime, HS2 has been allocated a budget of some £7.1 million for the current year.
We have announced a £30 million fund to support the purchase of new low carbon buses in England, available over the current financial year and next financial year. In addition, bus operators are now eligible to receive an extra payment through Bus Service Operators' Grant of 6p per kilometre for services operated by a low carbon bus.
The forthcoming National Cycle Plan will set out the overall future strategy for cycling. Cycling England's existing budget is £60 million in each of 2009-10 and 2010-11. In addition, the Secretary of State announced in July that a further £5 million would be available to pay for cycle improvements at railway stations.
Detailed decisions on funding for these areas in later years will be made when the Department's overall budget is allocated as part of normal Government-wide processes.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 25 March 2009, Official Report, column 375W, on transport: finance, what his most recent estimate is of the levels of spending on transport in the period up to 2017 in respect of the commitment to double spending on transport in the period 1997 to 2017 set out in the answer. [288216]
Chris Mole: "Comprehensive Spending Review 2007-Meeting the Aspirations of the British People" (Cm 7227) announced a long-term funding guideline for public spending by the Department for Transport, with £19.7 billion spending in 2017-18.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 25 March 2009, Official Report, column 375W, on transport: finance, what his most recent estimate is of the projected levels of long-term funding for his Department in order to provide for the 2.25 per cent. real growth in the Long-Term Funding Guideline to 2018-19 set out in the answer. [288217]
Chris Mole: The annual figures for the long-term funding guideline for transport announced in "Comprehensive Spending Review 2007-Meeting the Aspirations of the British People" (Cm 7227) for the years beyond the current spending review period, were as set out in the following table.
| £ billion | |
Travel
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport (1) what estimate he has made of the average cost per return journey by (a) air, (b) rail and (c) car between (i) London and Edinburgh, (ii) London and Glasgow, (iii) London and Manchester, (iv) London and Aberdeen, (v) London and Newcastle, (vi) Birmingham and Edinburgh, (vii) Birmingham and Glasgow, (viii) Bristol and Edinburgh, (ix) Bristol and Glasgow, (x) Edinburgh and Manchester and (xi) London and Newquay; [288046]
(2) what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who travelled from (a) London to Edinburgh, (b) London to Glasgow, (c) London to Manchester, (d) London to Aberdeen, (e) London to Newcastle, (f) Birmingham to Edinburgh, (g) Birmingham to Glasgow, (h) Bristol to Edinburgh, (i) Bristol to Glasgow, (j) Edinburgh to Manchester and (k) London to Newquay at least once in the last year for which information is available; and what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of such journeys undertaken by (i) rail, (ii) air and (iii) car in that period. [288051]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport's only source of large-scale cross-modal travel data is the National Travel Survey (NTS). This can be used to provide broad estimates of the percentage modal share on major inter-region transport corridors, such as London to the West Midlands and London to the North-West, as shown in the following table:
| Long distance journeys by mode, 2002-06 | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Between London and the North- West | Between London and the West Midlands | |
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