Tag: Lord Bradshaw

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

“

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).

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans are in place to reduce the number of unplanned closures of the East Coast Main 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 how much money the EU provided, in the most recent year for which figures are available, for research, capital expenditure and revenue support for (1) the bus and coach industry, (2) railway passenger and freight-services, (3) the air industry, including runways, aircraft or equipment, (4) the shipping and ports industry, and (5) road schemes and the development of vehicle technology.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The EU budget has a number of programmes aimed at supporting the development of transport which can be at a regional, national or trans-national level.

Given the complexity of the different mechanisms for delivering such funding the UK government does not maintain a central record of the total amount of money that the EU provides for research, capital expenditure and revenue support for transport.

The main source of funding for transport infrastructure comes from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) which promotes the development of the different Trans- European Networks for Transport, Energy and Communications. Transport is the major element of the CEF budget with nearly €1.5 billion in commitments allocated to fund EU transport projects in 2016. The EU transport funding priorities are defined in the TEN-T regulation (EU 2013/1315) and focus on improving cross-border connections and developing sustainable and efficient transport infrastructure. Funding is awarded to projects through a competitive bidding process with projects having to meet specific criteria and demonstrate high EU added value. The attached tables have details of projects involving UK participation that have been awarded funding.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are aware of any studies regarding the not primarily abstractive” test that the Office of Road and Rail makes in respect of open access applications to test its validity.”

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Her Majesty’s Government is not aware of any recent studies which specifically test the validity of the Office of Rail and Road’s not primarily abstractive test. However, it has made representations to the ORR on its appropriateness for use on individual open access applications, most particularly in relation to the recent open access applications on the East Coast Mainline.