Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2025 to Question 53771 on Railways: Finance, what recent progress she has made on the Union Connectivity Development Fund.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Union Connectivity Development Fund (UCDF) has provided financial support for a range of transport connectivity projects in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
This includes funding to support four rail feasibility studies in Northern Ireland, the conclusions of which have just been published in a Translink report.
While there are no plans for further UCDF-supported projects once those already underway are concluded, the Department remains committed to its strong partnerships with the Devolved Governments, focusing on collaboration, capacity building and the sharing of best practice, where appropriate.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps have been taken to improve the accessibility of the high street for wheelchair users.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It is the responsibility of local authorities to manage their streets and to ensure this is done in a way which allows them to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty.
The Department provides good practice guidance on designing accessible streets in Inclusive Mobility: A Guide to Best Practice on Access to Pedestrian and Transport Infrastructure.
This is available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-mobility-making-transport-accessible-for-passengers-and-pedestrians.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure that the withdrawal of the Class 43 HST trains from services in the South West does not result in severe disruption and cancellations.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The remaining High Speed Train (HST) fleet, including Class 43 power cars, were withdrawn at the end of the Summer 2025 timetable and have been replaced with existing fleet, including the recently introduced Class 175s, the first of which entered passenger services on Monday 15 December.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of vegetation clearance carried out by Network Rail under temporary variations on Network Rail’s biodiversity commitments.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The government has not made an assessment of the impact of vegetation clearance carried out by Network Rail under temporary variations on Network Rail’s biodiversity commitments. Any work carried out by Network Rail under temporary variation against the vegetation standard, would still be following its biodiversity standard. Network Rail is committed to increasing biodiversity across its estate, but vegetation management is still necessary to maintain a safe and efficient railway.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the strengthening stage of works will be completed on Hammersmith Bridge so that it can reopen to traffic.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
My officials are continuing to progress work on the viable engineering and funding solutions discussed at the previous meeting of the Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce, and further updates will be made available in the near future.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps Great British Railway will take to make railway stations in Yeovil constituency more accessible.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the significant social and economic benefits this brings to passengers and communities.
In May 2024, the previous government agreed the publication of a list of 50 additional stations selected for initial feasibility work under the Access for All programme, which included Yeovil Junction in the Yeovil constituency. Network Rail has now completed this feasibility work, and the Government will shortly announce which of these stations will progress to the next stage.
The Railways Bill will ensure that the interests of all passengers, particularly those with accessibility needs, are at the heart of decision-making across the railways. Great British Railways (GBR) will have a clear passenger and accessibility duty, requiring it to consider the needs of disabled passengers and to embed improved accessibility at the core of the railway. However, we are not waiting for GBR to be established to deliver improvements. Alongside the Railways Bill, the Department for Transport has published the Roadmap to an Accessible Railway, which sets out the actions being taken now to improve accessibility and the day-to-day travel experience for passengers who need assistance, ahead of GBR’s creation.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure that there are sufficient replacement trains in operation following the withdrawal of the Class 43 HST trains from services in the South West.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The remaining High Speed Train (HST) fleet, including Class 43 power cars, were withdrawn at the end of the Summer 2025 timetable and have been replaced with existing fleet, including the recently introduced Class 175s, the first of which entered passenger services on Monday 15 December.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to reduce the cost to (a) the public purse, and (b) farepayers of the cost of maintaining payments to the current Rolling Stock companies (ROSCOs).
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We expect that, once established, Great British Railways (GBR) will continue to lease rolling stock where this offers value for money. The private-sector rolling stock market has brought significant benefits to passengers and taxpayers, with private investment worth over £20 billion since 1995. However, we are determined to work with the market to ensure it delivers best value for passengers and taxpayers in the future. That is why, even before establishing GBR, we are now developing a comprehensive long-term strategy for rolling stock and associated infrastructure – the first in more than thirty years. We intend to publish this next summer.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the comparative operational performance of publicly owned rail operators versus privately owned rail operators since December 2024.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport holds all the operators that it funds to account for delivering performance for passengers. The Rail Minister meets regularly with the Managing Directors of train operators and their Network Rail counterparts to address poor performance and demand immediate action to raise standards.
The table below shows the most recent data on levels of reliability and punctuality for DfT funded services over the past year. This compares operators currently in public ownership and shows that reliability is higher for operators currently in public ownership under DfT Operator Ltd (DFTO) compared to private sector operators contracted by DfT.
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“Time to 3 punctuality” refers to the proportion of trains calling at stations within three minutes of schedule.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she has taken to recover the 6120 missing responses from the Railways Bill consultation; and what steps she is taking to ensure the integrity of the consultation process for future consultations.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State has written to the Transport Select Committee on this issue, a copy of which can be found here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/50296/documents/271772/default/.
We have no evidence of other consultations being affected and are taking all steps necessary to ensure our suppliers prevent a recurrence. This includes reviewing our email filtering system logs for all open consultations and seeking separate external assurance on the configuration of our replacement filtering system.