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  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential economic benefit of High Speed 2 to Easington constituency.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The North East and County Durham will benefit from direct HS2 services to the West Midlands and the South East when Phase Two is opened in 2033. Economic analysis was published in business case for Phase Two in October 2013, and updated at time of command paper last autumn. A route decision will be made on rest of route, including to the North East this autumn, at which point an updated economic case will be published.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will request that train operating companies publish the criteria they use for calculating rail fares.

    Claire Perry

    The rail fares we regulate have been capped at inflation (Retail Price Index) for three years running, and will continue to be capped for the life of this parliament. The Government sets the maximum amount by which regulated fares can rise. Details of how fares regulation applies to train operators can be found in Schedule 5 of the Franchise Agreement which can be found on the Department’s website. Other fares are unregulated, and train operators are permitted to set these on a commercial basis.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/public-register-of-rail-passenger-franchise-agreements

    “

  • Crispin Blunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Crispin Blunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Crispin Blunt on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effects of expansion of Gatwick Airport on seat capacity on northbound trains into London terminals in (a) 2030 and (b) 2040 during weekday morning peak periods.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Airports Commission analysed the likely surface access impacts of a second runway at Gatwick Airport in 2030. Its analysis concluded that the second runway does increase forecast crowding on the Brighton Main Line but not to significant levels.

    At the time its work was carried out, the Airports Commission felt it was not plausible to carry out detailed surface access analysis for 2040 and beyond because of the difficulty in making assumptions about the likely state of the transport network and background growth at that time.

  • Crispin Blunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Crispin Blunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Crispin Blunt on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of improvements to the Brighton Mainline in Control Period 5 on seat capacity on northbound trains at (a) Horley, (b) Redhill and (c) East Croydon rail stations during weekday morning peak periods.

    Claire Perry

    The Department has not carried out a specific assessment of the effect of improvements to the Brighton Mainline (BML) in Control Period 5 (2014-19) on seating capacity from the three aforementioned stations. We are investing significantly in capacity improvements on the BML which will start to be delivered this year and fully delivered for the 2018 timetable change. Govia Thameslink Railway intend to carry out a public consultation on their proposed 2018 timetable changes later this year.

  • Crispin Blunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Crispin Blunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Crispin Blunt on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what forecast he has made of the number of households within the 55 day-evening-night equivalent level noise contour of aircraft arriving and taking off at Gatwick Airport in the event that a second runway at that airport was to become operational.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    On 14 December 2015, the Government formally announced that it accepted the Airports Commission’s case for new runway capacity in the South East, as well as the Commission’s three shortlisted schemes.

    The Airports Commission undertook a thorough assessment of the noise impacts of each of the three shortlisted schemes, across a wide range of metrics, including the 55 day-evening-night sound level.

    The Government continues to consider the comprehensive evidence published by the Airports Commission, including on the noise impacts of the three schemes.

  • Crispin Blunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Crispin Blunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Crispin Blunt on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) night period and (b) night quota period aircraft movements there were at Gatwick Airport for each International Air Transport Association season between winter (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2015-16.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government only sets restrictions on the number of flights between the hours of 2330 – 0600 – in the period known as night quota period and therefore we only have movement figures for this and not the wider night period hours of 2300 – 0700.

    It should be noted that some flights take place during the night quota period but do not count towards the movement limits under the night flight restrictions. These include movements due to certain types of delays, to those issued dispensations by the Government, or to those by aircraft below a certain noise volume.

    Two figures are given below for each aircraft season. The first refers to those that count towards the night movement limits at Gatwick Airport, and the second is the total number of movements that did not count towards these limits. This information is also available on the Gatwick Airport website: http://www.gatwickairport.com/

    Period

    Number of movements

    Total number

    Winter 2007/08

    2929

    62

    Summer 2008

    10618

    90

    Winter 2008/09

    2145

    62

    Summer 2009

    9099

    76

    Winter 2009/10

    2199

    103

    Summer 2010

    9875

    120

    Winter 2010/11

    2160

    91

    Summer 2011

    9859

    85

    Winter 2011/12

    1411

    62

    Summer 2012

    9837

    92

    Winter 2012/13

    1603

    53

    Summer 2013

    9998

    96

    Winter 2013/14

    1510

    83

    Summer 2014

    11147

    138

    Winter 2014/15

    1756

    135

    Summer 2015

    11149

    401

    Winter 2015/16

    1872

    169

    “

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33749, on Department for Transport: IBM, when the contracts referred to in that Answer were awarded.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    My department has 4 contracts with IBM (UK) Ltd and details are contained in the table below

    Agency

    Purpose of contract

    Award date

    DfTc

    Annual Software maintenance on IBM SPSS licensing for statistical analysis

    30/04/2014

    DVLA

    Q Radar Security Monitoring Tool

    28/09/2015

    DVLA

    IBM Software-Extended Support

    01/10/2015

    DVLA

    IBM Enterprise Licensing Agreement (ELA)

    01/01/2016
  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Government plans to publish its consultation on drone regulation.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    We plan to launch the consultation over the summer.

  • Oliver Heald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Oliver Heald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Heald on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2015 to Question 18426, what progress has been made on design development for the A1(M) Widening Scheme.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England Delivery Plan, published in 2015, includes the introduction of smart motorways on the A1(M) between Junctions 6 and 8. This will provide improved capacity and better access, and should unlock much of the growth potential around Stevenage.

    The scheme is commencing design development works now.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of regulations relating to drones and public safety.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government’s primary responsibility is the safety and security of our citizens. That is why we apply one of the highest regulatory safety standards for commercial aviation in the world.

    There are existing regulations in place that require users of drones to maintain direct, unaided visual contact with their vehicle and to not recklessly or negligently cause or permit an aircraft to endanger any person or property. Guidance on tackling the risks of criminal drone use has been provided to constabularies across the UK.

    The Department and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) work with a wide range of industry partners across the aviation sector, (including manufacturers, airports, and airlines), to ensure our understanding of potential hazards to aircraft remains up-to-date and mitigations effective. Further work is underway to better understand the risk posed by flying drones close to commercial planes to ensure that regulations remain fit for purpose.

    The Cross Government Working Group on RPAS has undertaken analysis of the use of drones for criminal purposes, including the potential use of drones for terrorist purposes, and the impacts of their negligent use near sensitive locations, such as airports. This work is kept under review and is being used to inform research and testing to improve mitigation techniques and strategies.

    Awareness and education on current restrictions are vitally important. The Civil Aviation Authority is undertaking activities to raise awareness of the basic safety requirements, including an ongoing ‘Dronecode’ safety awareness campaign, issuing safety leaflets at the point of sale, publishing an animated video on their website, and running ‘small UAS’ Risk and Hazard workshops with industry as part of the Mid Air Collision Programme.