HC 296 Public Accounts CommitteeWritten evidence from the Department for Transport

At the Public Accounts Committee hearing on 19 June 2013, I promised to write to the Committee with further information on a number of matters. These are set out below in the order in which they arose during the Committee hearings.

Spend on External Consultants (Q18–Q19)

We apologise to the Committee for making a mistake in the answers provided to these questions. The £28 million spend on external consultants mentioned in our answers was described as expenditure from May 2010. In fact the £28 million figure represents the total spend recorded with external consultants since the start of the programme through to the end of March 2013. This is information that has been previously published in response to Parliamentary Questions; see the answer of 24 January 2012, Hansard, column 167W and the answer of 17 June 2013, Hansard, column 528W.

Freedom of Information Act and Network Rail (Q83 & Q87)

Stephen Barclay MP asked me whether there is anything in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to preclude its extension to Network Rail. Mr Barclay referred in particular to the power under section 5(1)(a) of FOIA to extend the Act by order to bodies performing “functions of a public nature” and the Treasury Minute suggesting that primary legislation would be necessary in Network Rail’s case. The term “functions of a public nature” is not defined in FOIA and a detailed assessment would need to be made before determining whether the inclusion of Network Rail could be achieved through secondary legislation, on the basis that it performs functions of a public nature, or whether primary legislation would be required.

As a private sector company limited by guarantee, Network Rail is not currently subject to the FOI Act. Network Rail is a regulated provider of public services and already publishes a significant amount of information including detailed regulatory accounts. As David Higgins pointed out at the hearing, recognising the demand for more of its information and data, Network Rail has begun a transparency scheme to release more material on its website to improve its accountability to the travelling and non-travelling public.

Information on Passenger Numbers from Train Systems and Ticketing Information, and Estimates of Travel from Rural Stations (Q118–Q132)

Mr Barclay raised a number of issues on the capability of the new rolling stock to assess its passenger loading and in discussion with the Department’s witnesses the debate also covered information available from ticketing systems.

I will outline first with the capabilities of the rolling stock with regard to passenger load determination. The requirements set out in the specification are:

All carriages will be fitted with a load-weigh system that calculates the number of passengers present. This will have a minimum average accuracy of 10%, even allowing for the variation in the combined weight of the passenger and any luggage he or she is carrying. The passenger load is measured and stored immediately prior to the departure of the train from each station.

25% of the trains will be fitted with a state-of-the-art passenger scanning system at every doorway. This system has a minimum average accuracy of 5% and is spread equally across the eight-carriage and 12-carriage trains. It provides a body count of the number of individual passengers boarding and alighting at each station stop. The trains fitted with this more advanced system will be naturally cycled across all of the routes that the new carriages will operate over. This will ensure that accurate data is obtained for all routes within the Thameslink network.

The contract also specifies the provision of analysis software that will provide a variety of output reports based on the raw data recorded on the Units. The reports will be available to the train operating company and DfT in support of passenger demand modelling and service development.

Passenger count data and passenger load-weigh data from the carriages can be accessed and downloaded remotely at any time, thus ensuring that all available data is captured and made available for analysis on a continuous basis.

In addition to providing data for subsequent analysis, the passenger loading data is used directly on the train to feed a graphic display on the passenger information screens. This will help passengers identify those areas of the train that are more lightly laden, encouraging them to move through the open wide gangways towards these carriages. It will also be possible to relay this loading information to station customer information systems to advise waiting passengers of the best part of the platform at which to stand.

I will now describe in more general terms how passenger count information is collected and used in the rail industry.

Estimates of rail usage come from a variety of sources including LENNON, the rail industry’s ticketing database, and rail passenger counts for individual services. Rail forecasts will use a variety of inputs depending on the scheme in question, and the party carrying out the analysis; typically the DfT for bigger projects and Local Authorities for planning relating to rural services.

Rail passenger counts

Train operators currently provide DfT with periodic passenger count data and these are typically provided as the average of a number of counts carried out over a period of time. Counts are provided for all services on arrival at and departure from particular stations. The Department’s focus is typically on peak travel into cities, however, train operators will be collecting more information for their business needs, and we will request more detailed counts for particular projects such as the modelling undertaken for the Thameslink project.

Counts are carried out by train operators of the numbers of passengers on board their trains at certain points along their routes. These counts are either collected manually or by electronic counting equipment fitted to the train. In recent years, the amount of passenger count data being collected has increased significantly as the fitting of automatic counting equipment on rolling stock has increased. There are currently two types of electronic count equipment used, and two types of manual count. These are detailed below.

Automatic passenger counts (APC)

“Load weighing”—this is equipment fitted to trains that “weighs” the train at certain points, estimating the number of passengers on board by assuming an average weight per passenger.

“Infra-red”—this uses infra-red sensors fitted around each door on the train to count the numbers of passengers boarding and alighting at each station. From these it can be calculated how many passengers are on board the train at any point along its route.

Both types of counter will be fitted to the new Thameslink fleet as described above.

Manual counts

On board (“guard”) counts—on long-distance services where there is a sufficiently long gap between stations manual counts can be carried out on board the train. These will often be carried out by train guards.

Platform counts—these are counts carried out by people on platforms at stations counting the numbers of passengers boarding and alighting each train. For through trains this can also involve making an assessment of the number of passengers in each carriage through the train windows.

DfT is in the process of procuring a centralised rail passenger counts database that will in future enable us to store and process significantly more information on rail usage across the rail network, particularly the counts data that are provided by the APC equipment fitted on trains.

Published statistics and estimates of travel at rural stations

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) is the lead publisher of official statistics for the rail industry and publishes annual and quarterly rail usage estimates. These show the number of journeys and passenger kilometres, and are based on ticket sales, primarily those recorded in the rail industry’s LENNON ticketing database. As well as national totals, estimates are produced for individual train operators, regions and stations. The ORR statistics are the best source of information on the overall level of rail travel across the country and trends in rail travel over time.

Statistics relating to individual stations are available from the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) in its station usage publication—see: http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.1529.

The latest station usage information is based on ticket sales in the financial year 2010–11 and covers all National Rail stations throughout England, Scotland and Wales. Station usage data are an estimate of the number of passengers travelling to and from each station (entries and exits) and are based on ticket sales.

Previous PAC Recommendations on Rail Capacity (Q175 & Q176)

You asked about progress on two previous recommendations by the Committee, which were:

1.The recommendation that for future franchises DfT should impose clear obligations on operators to avoid overcrowding and to bear the cost of meeting that obligation themselves; and

2.The recommendation that DfT should provide transparent information on how many new passenger places it is delivering, on which trains, and at what cost to taxpayers and farepayers.

A Treasury Minute setting out the status of these recommendations was published in January 2013. The relevant section is reproduced below and this remains the position except in respect of the first recommendation, where as the Committee will be aware the Brown Review and the Department’s franchising programme have now been published. In addition, the Department is developing a new approach to quality for future franchise competitions, and will include appropriate measures in each franchise procurement to deliver capacity growth to meet the needs of rail passengers.

Capacity on passenger franchise services

The first relevant franchise replacement was InterCity West Coast, scheduled to commence in December 2012. Bidders were expected to set out how they intend to ensure passenger demand is matched by capacity. Following termination of this competition, for this franchise, a revised programme of replacement franchises will be announced once the results of the Brown Review have been published. It is anticipated that similar provisions will be included in future franchises.

Transparent information on new capacity

The Department’s March 2012 Command Paper Reforming our Railways: Putting the Customer First sets out the importance of establishing a more transparent picture of the railway industry’s finances, to make those in charge of running services and managing the infrastructure more accountable to farepayers, taxpayers and the wider public. As set out in that paper, the Department has published figures showing the amount of subsidy paid to each franchise, as well as an estimate of the proportion of fixed infrastructure costs that relate to them.

Detailed annual figures for train capacity and passenger usage are now published for eleven cities, the London data being expressed as individual stations. The Department publishes information on any extra peak capacity procured and, where the individual price is known, the cost of this capacity. Further peak capacity has been specified for the years 2014–2019.

Philip Rutnam
Permanent Secretary

27 June 2013