Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of trains on Network Rail did not arrive at their destination on time in the last four-weekly period for which data are available.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In the period 7 January to 3 February 2024, 66.7% of recorded station stops in Great Britain arrived ‘On Time’ (early or less than one minute after the scheduled time).
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many motorway service stations do not have chargepoints for electric vehicles.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Out of 114 motorway service areas in England, only three do not have any open-access (can be used with any vehicle) chargepoints. These are Leicester Forest East Southbound, Leicester Forest East Northbound and Tebay Southbound. However, Tebay Southbound does have Tesla only chargepoints.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of motorway service stations have a grid connection sufficient to power six rapid or ultra-rapid chargepoints for electric vehicles.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not hold data on which motorway service areas (MSAs) in England have a grid connection which is sufficient to specifically power six or more ultra-rapid chargepoints.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the safety implications of Tesla offering its X model in the UK with only left hand drive.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All vehicles, including the Tesla model X, must be type approved to ensure they are safe before they can be sold in the UK. These standards do not specify which side of the vehicle the steering wheel should be fitted leaving the choice to the manufacturer.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of motorway service stations have at least six rapid or ultra-rapid chargers for electric vehicles.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are now more than 260 ultra-rapid (150kW) chargepoints, and more than 480 open-access (can be used with any electric vehicle) rapid (50kW) and ultra-rapid chargepoints at motorway service areas in England in total.
The Department is in the process of collecting data from motorway service operators on the total number of chargepoints installed at motorway service areas by the end of last year.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the evidence presented by Lukasz Krupski about the safety of Tesla's self-driving vehicles as part of their development of the Automated Vehicles Bill.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Tesla does not currently operate a self-driving system, within the meaning of the Automated Vehicles Bill. The Bill will prohibit the sale of vehicles as self-driving if they do not meet the safety requirements set out in the Act to do so. The Bill also envisages the appointment of inspectors who would be excellently placed to investigate technical concerns about self-driving vehicles.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government why there is a delay in connecting already installed electric vehicle chargepoints in motorway service areas to an appropriate power supply.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Around 97% of motorway service areas in England have charging available today. The Government has been working with distribution network operators and industry to ensure that once chargepoints are installed they are energised as soon as possible for the public to use. This includes supporting Ofgem’s Green Recovery Scheme, which will reinforce the electricity network at around 50 motorway service areas in England. The Government is also working with National Highways to provide battery storage at selected sites where the current electricity network capacity is limited, which will enable increased chargepoint provision.
At fixed strategic locations, such as motorway service areas, the cost of connecting to the electricity network can be high and variable. Therefore, where is it uncommercially viable for industry, the Rapid Charging Fund will part-fund future-proof electrical capacity to prepare the network for a fully electric car and van fleet.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment, if any, they have made of the options available to ensure the resilience of the National Rail Network at temperatures in excess of 40 degrees centigrade.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Transport has plans in place and underway to adapt to and mitigate the risks of our changing climate. The Williams-Shapps Rail Plan includes a priority for long-term investment in climate resilience supported by smarter forecasting, planning and technology.
On Wednesday 20 July, Network Rail announced the launch of a new taskforce led by independent experts to investigate and make recommendations on how the railway can develop its approach to resilience during hot weather following this week’s unprecedented heatwave.
The review will consider four key areas, each led by an independent expert in their field. Three of these areas will be focused on gathering insights from other countries and making comparisons with international rail networks that are more used to dealing with extreme heat and fluctuations in temperature.
As part of the review, the taskforce will:
- investigate options to ensure the railway infrastructure can continue to function safely and reliably during very hot weather; and
- explore operational standards, policies and practices which could allow services to continue to operate safely and without highly limiting speed restrictions in extreme heat.
Network Rail (NR) and the wider rail industry are working to improve our resilience to climate change impacts and other disruptive events. They are developing a risk-based approach to resilience planning, enabling a focus on those risks and assets that are key to delivering safety and performance improvements for passengers and freight users in a cost-effective manner.
Many infrastructure operators, including Network Rail, consider the changing climate in their strategic planning and report on their preparedness under the Adaptation Reporting Power.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to assess the effectiveness of train operators in providing accurate and timely information for passengers during the disruption to services on 18, 19 and 20 July.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Evidence for the provision of accurate and timely information, including during the period 18, 19 and 20 July, will contribute to the determination of a performance-based fee for eligible rail operators. The evidence in this area and across other metrics of performance is independently evaluated before a performance score and fee is determined.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of (1) the average wait time for callers to DVLA helplines, and (2) the number of callers on average each day who are cut off without a response.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The average wait time for callers to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to speak to an advisor for the week commencing 21 February was 13 minutes 14 seconds.
During the same week, the average number of callers each day who received a message saying all lines were busy and asking them to try again later was 32,214.