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6 Jan 2010 : Column 331Wcontinued
John McDonnell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether the subject of public ownership and operation of rail franchises will be considered in the review into improving value for money in the rail sector announced in the pre-Budget report. [307826]
Chris Mole: The terms of reference for the study into improving the value for money of the railway have now been published on the Department for Transport's website at:
Alongside this, the Department is also carrying out a review of the current franchising model in readiness for the retendering of the East Coast, Greater Anglia and Essex Thameside franchises during 2010.
However, the Government believe that a 'publicly specified privately delivered' model for passenger rail services is the most appropriate model, and believe that this model has delivered significant improvements for passengers over the last 10 years, including record reliability and customer satisfaction scores.
John McDonnell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what costs have been incurred by (a) the Government and (b) the Strategic Rail Authority in designing and tendering rail franchises since 1996. [307827]
Chris Mole: The costs incurred by the Department for Transport in designing and tendering rail franchises from 2005-09 is £33.8 million, while the equivalent costs for the Strategic Rail Authority from 2003-05 is £42.4 million.
The letting of franchises since 1996 has been undertaken by a number of successive agencies, namely the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising, the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority, the Strategic Rail Authority and since mid-2005, the Department for Transport. Re-franchising costs prior to 2003 were part of general business costs and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much public subsidy has been allocated in respect of each railway franchise since 1997; and to which company in each such case. [309069]
Chris Mole: Details of public subsidy paid to each rail franchise is published annually by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) in National Rail Trends (NRT). Copies of NRT are available in the Library of the House and on the ORR's website at
Ms Katy Clark: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many passenger journeys on direct London to Glasgow rail services were made in the last 10 years. [309050]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport does not hold data on passenger journeys by direct trains only. Since April 2001, 2.6 million direct and indirect journeys have been made between London and Glasgow in both directions.
Ms Katy Clark: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport who will take the final decision on whether to continue direct London to Glasgow rail services; and when he expects that decision to be taken. [309352]
Chris Mole: The specification of train services between London and Glasgow is set by the Secretary of State and is subject to agreement of track access rights by the Office of Rail Regulation.
There are no proposals to discontinue direct rail services between Glasgow and London Euston via the West Coast Main Line which carries most of the Glasgow to London passengers.
After the completion of the £8.9 billion West Coast Main Line upgrade, only a relatively small number of passengers travel by the direct service from Glasgow to London Kings Cross, which has a substantially longer journey time than the Glasgow to Euston service. Therefore, as part of a major revision of the East Coast Main Line timetable, consideration is being given to replacement of direct Glasgow to London Kings Cross services with through services between Glasgow, Leeds, Sheffield and the Midlands.
Ms Katy Clark: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department has conducted any recent research of the economic benefits of retaining direct London to Glasgow rail services. [309353]
Chris Mole: The economic benefits of direct services between London Euston and Glasgow were evaluated in detail by the former Strategic Rail Authority as part of the business case for upgrading the West Coast Main Line. It has not been necessary for the Department for Transport to repeat that work.
The future of direct services between London King's Cross and Glasgow has been reviewed as part of a package of changes to services on the East Coast Main Line. Specifically, the Department for Transport has considered whether through-journeys between Glasgow and north-east England should be provided by Cross Country services rather than East Coast services. In accordance with normal practice, assessment of alternative service patterns is focussing on the changes in passenger journey opportunities and the impact on operating costs. The economic benefits of the full package of changes to the East Coast Main Line timetable will be evaluated in due course to confirm the overall business case for the changes.
Ms Katy Clark: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what environmental impact assessment has been made of the retention of direct London to Glasgow rail services. [309311]
Chris Mole: There are no plans to reduce services running between London Euston and Glasgow. Any proposals to modify services between London Kings Cross and Glasgow will be subject to public consultation. However, the number of people who travel from Glasgow to Kings Cross is very small, due to the significant longer journey time than the recently improved Glasgow to Euston service.
It is not the Department for Transport's policy to carry out environmental assessments of changes to individual service patterns. Instead such assessments are used to inform major investment decisions such as the Department's recent announcements of new electrification schemes.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what funding his Department has provided to each of the regional development agencies in each of the last three years; and for what purposes. [308488]
Chris Mole: The Department made the following payments to regional development agencies during the last three financial years:
£ | |||
2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
The payment made in 2008-09 was a contribution towards the Regional Development Agency's Carbon Assessment scheme. Due to a change in the Department's accounting system in 2008 it is not possible to identify the purpose of the payments made in 2006-07 and 2007-08 other than at disproportionate cost.
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport (1) how many (a) road traffic accidents, (b) road traffic fatalities, (c) accidents involving motorcyclists, (d) fatalities involving motorcyclists, (e) accidents involving cyclists and (f) fatalities involving cyclists there were in (i) East Sussex and (ii) Lewes constituency in each of the last five years; [308464]
(2) how many road traffic accidents in (a) East Sussex and (b) Lewes constituency involved motorbikes in each of the last five years; and how many of them resulted in loss of life in each of those five years; [308465]
(3) how many road traffic accidents which occurred in (a) East Sussex and (b) Lewes constituency involved loss of life in each of the last five years. [308466]
Paul Clark: The information requested is given in the tables.
Reported personal injury road accidents and fatalities in East Sussex 2004-08 | |||||
2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
Reported personal injury road accidents and fatalities in Lewes( 1) : 2004-08 | |||||
2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
(1) Based on 2004 constituency boundaries |
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many road traffic accidents which occurred in Leeds North West constituency involved loss of life in each of the last five years. [309392]
Paul Clark: The information requested is given in the following table.
Reported fatal road accidents in Leeds North West constituency( 1) , 2004-08 | |
Accidents | |
(1) Based on 2004 parliamentary constituency boundaries. |
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