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Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will request that Southeastern Trains and Network Rail explain the reasons for disruption to services at London Bridge on 4, 5 and 6 January 2016; and if he will publish the responses of those organisations to that request.

Claire Perry

Network Rail has informed me that problems with signalling equipment caused delays to some Southeastern services via London Bridge on 4, 5 and 6 of January. On the morning of 4th January, a track circuit failed near Cannon Street. On the evening of 5th January a track circuit failed on the line to Charing Cross and Network Rail was not able to rectify the fault until the morning of the 6th.

Network Rail and Southeastern worked together to ensure the issues were rectified as quickly as possible and passenger disruption was minimised.

I remain committed to ensuring disruption is kept to a minimum while we continue the vital Thameslink Programme works to improve capacity and reliability through one of the busiest rail routes in Europe.

01/01/2023
John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department issues to the private parking industry on the appropriate levels of penalties for motorists.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Government does not issue guidance to the private parking industry on the levels of penalties for motorists. The private parking sector currently operates on a model of self-regulation, and parking companies predominantly obtain access to DVLA data by being a member of one of the two Accredited Trade Associations. These Trade Associations set out in their codes of practice that the maximum level should be no more than £100. Both Trade Associations suggest their members offer a reduced rate of at least 40% if payment is made within 14 days of the issue of the charge notice.

01/01/2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with (a) HM Treasury and (b) other government departments on the extension of renewable transport fuels obligation beyond road transport.

Andrew Jones

Ministers and officials regularly discuss policy options with Her Majesty’s Treasury and colleagues in other government departments.

I refer the honourable Member to my answer to the honourable Member for Alyn and Deeside (Mark Tami), on 2 November 2015 on the subject of sustainable aviation fuels and representations received as part of the work of the Transport Energy Task Force http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-10-23/13225/. I have also met with representatives from industry to discuss the potential of sustainable low carbon fuels in aviation.

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01/01/2023
Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many passengers have used Stratford International station in each year since 2012.

Claire Perry

Passenger usage at Stratford International station in 2012 was 0.96m. In 2013, usage was 0.87m. In 2014, usage was 1.02m. In 2015, usage was 1.36m. The Office of Rail and Road publishes annual figures on station usage, which are available on their website^{^[1]}.

^{^[1]}http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/station-usage-estimates

01/01/2023
Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what mechanisms are in place to ensure that the public are made fully aware beforehand of planned road works to be carried out by contractors on trunk roads and motorways which involve either lane or whole carriageway closures.

Andrew Jones

A range of communications activities are used to inform members of the public about road works taking place on major A roads and motorways, including information issued to the media and updates to pages on the Highways England and Traffic England web pages.

In addition to this, letters are issued to organisations, businesses and communities affected directly by the works. Highways England will also undertake specific community and business-to-business meetings for larger scale closures within the local area of each project if required.

As a standard, information and updates are issued a minimum of seven days in advance wherever possible.

01/01/2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which departments have members on the cross-departmental Maritime Business Services working group; and how often he expects that group to meet.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Ministerial Working Group for Maritime Growth met for the first time on 30 November 2015. The government departments which attended that meeting were the Department for Transport, the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, the Ministry of Defence, the Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Her Majesty’s Treasury and the Department for Culture, Media & Sport. Those Government departments with interests in future cross cutting discussions will be invited to further meetings.

The current expectation is that this group will meet twice in 2016 with a review at the end of the year to determine future needs.

01/01/2023

Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of what the average journey time southbound between junction 30 and junction 2 on the M25, between the hours of (a) 6am to 9am, (b) 11am to 2pm and (c) 4pm to 7pm in each of the last six months.

Andrew Jones

Average journey time data between J3 and J30 travelling northbound and between J30 – J2 southbound on the M25 is not available. Highways England measures average journey times between J2 – J30 northbound and between J29 – J1B southbound on the M25. Average monthly journey times between July and December 2015 for the morning peak, inter-peak and evening peak periods are set out in the table below. All of these average monthly journey times are quicker than comparable data for journeys prior to the introduction of Dart Charge in November 2014.

Month	Time	Northbound J2 – J30	Southbound J29 – J1B
July*	6am – 9am	10:13	12:12
11am – 2pm	15:23	12:17
4pm – 7pm	16:52	12:51
August	6am – 9am	09:22	10:43
	11am – 2pm	18:27	12:01
	4pm – 7pm	18:34	10:55
September	6am – 9am	09:48	11:55
	11am – 2pm	11:11	10:49
	4pm – 7pm	15:26	11:32
October	6am – 9am	10:58	12:00
	11am – 2pm	13:25	11:27
	4pm – 7pm	15:33	13:17
November	6am – 9am	11:42	12:15
	11am – 2pm	10:40	11:55
	4pm – 7pm	18:23	13:14
December**	6am – 9am	10:53	12:40
	11am – 2pm	12:26	11:18
	4pm – 7pm	22:41	17:04

* Speed limit increase on 27th July.

** The technology used to monitor journey times at Junction 1B became faulty in the southbound direction on 5 December. This means southbound December data is for 01/12/15 to 05/12/15

All of these average monthly journey times are quicker than comparable data for journeys prior to the introduction of Dart Charge in November 2014.

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01/01/2023