Tag: Lord Bradshaw

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-02-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any acknowledgement of the achievement by Network Rail in completing successfully over 99 per cent of its Christmas and New Year programme of 500 projects without impact on passengers.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin, has indeed acknowledged the achievements of Network Rail over the Christmas period on no less than three separate occasions.

Network Rail issued a press release on 4 January in which my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Transport stated: "Network Rail and the operators have delivered essential improvements to the rail network over the Christmas period. These are crucial for providing better journeys for passengers, progressing key projects such as Crossrail and the Thameslink Programme and nearly £100m of improvements in Lincolnshire, as part of our record investment in the railways.

I welcome the news that this has been completed on time. I would like to thank passengers for their patience, and pay tribute to the men and women who have been working in challenging weather conditions for much of the time."

On 19 January my Rt Hon Friend informed the other place: “Over the Christmas period, Network Rail also successfully carried out its biggest ever works as part of the railway upgrade plan that is so essential to the future of the British rail industry. I pay tribute to the thousands of staff who gave up their Christmas to improve our railways.”

And on 28 January my Rt Hon Friend remarked in the other place: “I pay tribute to Network Rail and its hard-working orange army of more than 20,000 staff who successfully delivered £150 million of essential improvements to the network over the holiday period, as part of our record programme of investment in the railways. Planning for Easter is well advanced, and the good practice demonstrated over Christmas is being embedded in the planning process for Easter and beyond.”

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact that the decision by the Office of Road and Rail (ORR) to allow competition on the East Coast Main Line will have on the reliability and timekeeping of the existing East Coast Main Line franchise and other operators using the railway; and what assessment they have made of the impact the proposed improvements to the infrastructure being made by Network Rail in Control Periods 5 and 6 and the ORR decision on competition will have on the existing standard of performance.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Department for Transport has not itself undertaken an analysis of the effects of the ORR’s decisions on access to the East Coast Main Line on the reliability and performance of services on the route. In correspondence to the ORR ahead of its decision, the Department expressed concern about the potential adverse performance impacts of allowing additional open access operation on the route.

The potential additional capacity which would be provided by the enhancements to the route currently being planned by Network Rail over Control Periods 5 and 6 has been taken into account by the ORR in its decisions on access.

We now look to Network Rail and the relevant train operators to work together through the normal industry processes, under the oversight of the ORR, to ensure that the resulting pattern of services operates as effectively as possible for passengers and freight users of the line, and to ensure that any negative impacts on performance are minimised.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in resolving problems of damage to rights of way caused by off-road vehicles and trail motorcycles.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The responsibility for the management of off-road vehicles and motorcycles on public rights of way lies with local highway authorities and National Park Authorities, who have considerable powers to deal with problems of damage through the use of traffic regulation orders and also through the use of voluntary constraint agreements.

No recent assessment of the state of the off-road network has been made, but previous research has shown that problems are localised.

In order to share knowledge and build on existing best practice Defra and Natural England have set up a one-off forum for motor vehicle stakeholders in November to share their experiences and discuss ways of working together in the future.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-02-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in devolving transport powers to local authorities, it is their intention also to grant authorities the power to implement part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 so that they become responsible for tackling rising congestion and poor air quality or urban roads, and to promote more efficient bus operation.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government will continue to work with local authorities to consider whether there are powers that would be appropriate to devolve as part of their devolution deals.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the new open access operators using the East Coast Main Line will pay access charges that provide for fair competition with other operators, including VTEC; who determines those charges; and whether those charges reflect the opportunity costs that arise from using trains offering less seating capacity than the principal franchisee’s trains.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Setting the framework for track access charges is the responsibility of the independent regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (the ORR). The ORR will set the charging framework for all operators as part of the regulatory process leading up to the next control period (April 2019-2024). As part of that process, the Government has clearly indicated that it supports fairer charges for open access operators and has set out its desire to see changes to those charges as soon as possible.

Track access charges are not set on the basis of opportunity costs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-10-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been spent by the Competition and Markets Authority conducting investigations into the bus industry, including fees paid to consultants and legal fees, over the last 10 years.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was formed in 2014 after the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission were merged. It has the function to carry out investigations into sectors where there is risk of anti-competitive behaviour.

Since its inception in 2014, the CMA has carried out five Phase 1 merger investigations into the bus industry. The estimated cost for these investigations was £308,229.55. The Government does not hold information on the cost of individual investigations undertaken by the Office of Fair Trading or the Competition Commission.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2015-11-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 28 October (HL2621), what assessment they have made of whether the 12 unplanned closures of the East Coast Main Line in September represent an adequate level of service to the users of that line.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Department for Transport measures the performance of franchised train operators through a range of metrics as specified within their franchise agreements. The Office of Rail and Road monitor the performance of Network Rail. We expect all in the rail industry to work together to ensure good performance for its customers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, if they privatise or lease railway stations, they will ensure that convenient facilities are maintained on such stations for their primary purpose of serving passengers.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Network Rail is exploring new models for station management and ownership with the goal to bring improvements for both passengers and the communities they serve. They have engaged Citigroup as advisors to consider a range of potential options but no decisions have been taken at this early stage. Any decisions on such potential future options will take account of the ‎findings of Nicola Shaw’s report into the longer term shape and financing of Network Rail.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how long it has been since the Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services arrangements under which revenue is shared between operators were last updated; who is responsible for updating those arrangements; and whether that process is open to public scrutiny.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Department for Transport does not hold information on when Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services (ORCATS) was last updated. Any changes to ORCATS allocations is a matter for the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC). However we understand from ATOC that as the way in which ORCATS currently works is built into the planning assumptions made by franchise bidders, there is no intention to change the actual way in which ORCATS works. The increase in future ticketing, such as smartcards and barcodes, will in time lead to actual usage based allocations being used, but for now the ORCATS model remains the industry method of allocation.

Further information can be obtained from ATOC who can be contacted at:

ATOC Ltd

2nd Floor

200 Aldersgate Street

London
EC1A 4HD

enquiry@atoc.org

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-10-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many investigations have been conducted by the Competition and Markets Authority into the bus industry over the last 10 years and how the total number compares to other sectors in the transport industry.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

In the last ten years there were 43 investigations involving bus companies, 15 for rail, 11 for airports, 2 for trams, 1 for cars and 1 other.

These figures include investigations carried out by the Competition and Markets Authority’s predecessors (the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission).