Asked by: Lord Jones of Penybont (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will meet representatives of Great Western Railway to discuss the use of half-length trains.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Ministers meet with train operators regularly to discuss a range of issues including operational performance. I expect to meet with Great Western Railway (GWR) and Network Rail again in the coming months to continue to hold them to account on progress towards sustained good performance.
Train lengths are regularly reviewed and adjustments are made where appropriate. GWR deploys its Intercity fleet of 5, 9 or 10 carriage trains to best meet demand.
Sometimes services are formed of fewer carriages than planned but this is only done as a last resort – this could be because of damage or vandalism, for example following an infrastructure problem, or because of an animal strike or fatality. Trains can also develop faults which means they cannot be used for passenger service until the problem is resolved.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Penybont (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they plan to work with the Welsh Government to redevelop and refurbish Cardiff Central Railway Station.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Officials from both governments continue to work collaboratively on the Cardiff Central station improvement project, alongside partners from Transport for Wales and Network Rail, and overseen by Wales Rail Board.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Penybont (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what opportunities they envisage, via the Industrial Strategy and the Global Centre of Rail Excellence, for making (1) Wales and (2) the UK a global leader in rail research, testing and innovation.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department of Transport continues to engage closely with the Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) in developing its proposal for world-class research, testing and certification site in South Wales. Department for Transport officials contribute through the cross-government GCRE steering group, which also includes representatives from the Department for Business and Trade and Welsh Government, to discuss options for Government support and to ensure alignment with the Government’s priorities such as the Industrial Strategy. Partnership with devolved governments will make the Industrial Strategy a UK wide effort and support the considerable sectoral strengths of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Penybont (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the completion of the Global Centre of Rail Excellence facility.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department of Transport continues to engage closely with the Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) in developing its proposal for world-class research, testing and certification site in South Wales. Department for Transport officials contribute through the cross-government GCRE steering group, which also includes representatives from the Department for Business and Trade and Welsh Government, to discuss options for Government support and to ensure alignment with the Government’s priorities such as the Industrial Strategy. Partnership with devolved governments will make the Industrial Strategy a UK wide effort and support the considerable sectoral strengths of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.