Tag: Lord Bradshaw

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-10-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 20 September (HL1612), why their estimates of the financial impact of the Office of Road and Rail’s decision on the East Coast Main Line and other associated franchises are considered commercially sensitive” information when they will need to be disclosed to any bidders for future franchises.”

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The information is considered commercially sensitive because of the impact it could have on a listed company if released at this time. This information would only be disclosed to franchise bidders on a confidential basis at the time a franchise is re-let. However, under the normal process we would expect bidders to make their own revenue forecasts.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-01-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 16 December 2015 (HL4139), what assessment they have made of whether the police have sufficient officers to undertake enforcement action to deal with moving traffic offences outside London.

Lord Bates

The Government has not made any assessment of this nature. It is a matter for chief officers, working with their Police and Crime Commissioners to decide the size and makeup of their workforce, taking into account local priorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-06-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the East Coast Main Line infrastructure is adequate to provide a robust and reliable inter-city service, and of any modifications required in order for it to do so.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Her Majesty’s Government has not undertaken an assessment of the adequacy of the infrastructure to operate the planned service. It will be for Network Rail and the relevant train operators to work together to ensure that the East Coast Main Line infrastructure is adequate to provide a robust and reliable inter-city service, making use of the normal industry processes.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 19 October (HL2257), how much has been spent by departments other than the Department for Transport.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

There has been no further expenditure made by any other ministerial department into the Competition and Markets Authority inquiry regarding the overlap between Arriva buses and Arriva Trains.

As an independent non-ministerial department, the CMA is responsible for merger inquiries. In this role, it has spent approximately £480k (including staff time, legal fees and consulting fees) investigating the acquisition of the Northern rail franchise by Arriva Rail North Ltd. It is not possible to establish what proportion of this figure was spent on the assessment of the overlap between Arriva Buses and Arriva Trains.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-01-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of any correlation between the non-enforcement of low-level road user penalties and the rate of serious offences.

Lord Bates

No assessment has been made of any correlation between the non-enforcement of low-level road user penalties and the rate of serious offences. It is an operational matter for the police to decide how they enforce road traffic legislation and what action may be appropriate in any particular case.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the financial impact that the decision by the Office of Road and Rail to allow competition on the East Coast Main Line will have on the existing Virgin Trains East Coast franchise.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government is currently working to establish a robust estimate of the financial impact, taking full account of the specific details of the Office of Rail and Road’s decision. At this stage, that process is incomplete.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the current capacity and reliability constraints on the East Coast Main Line railway will be comprehensively addressed in Control Period 6.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government intends to articulate in 2017 its emerging priorities for improvements to train services and the national rail network (including possible enhancements to the East Coast Main Line) from 2019.

In Control Period 5 the Intercity Express Programme will provide the infrastructure to operate new trains from December 2018 which will reduce journey times and increase capacity. Schemes as part of the East Connectivity Fund will also be delivered to improve capacity and reduce journey times, the first of which is enhancements in the Doncaster area set to be complete by May 2017.

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.