Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what has happened to “the Great British Railways” app that was announced in 2021 which was to be issued by the Rail Delivery Group with the objective of making online purchases of tickets easier.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
As set out in the Plan for Rail, we recognise that the current multitude of train company websites with different standards of service is confusing to passengers. We are continuing to review the best way to address this and are working closely with the rail sector to do this.
We want to see a more competitive retail market and will break down the systems and structural barriers to entry so it is easier to enter the market to sell rail tickets.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the Rail Delivery Group regarding how ticket services not available on ticket vending machines, such as refunds and season ticket changes will be handled.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
We recognise there are a wide range of fares and tickets offered to passengers, and that not all products are offered consistently online or at ticket vending machines. However, an estimated 99% of all transactions made at ticket offices last year could be made at TVMs or online.
The rail industry is looking to expand digital ticketing options and make them even easier for passengers to use through upgrades to ticket vending machines and digitisation of more tickets and processes.
When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours, including closures, operators are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of all passengers. This includes ensuring that passengers can easily buy the right ticket for the journey they want to make, with consideration of the product range available at the station and what support is available to help with purchase.
Passengers will not be expected to travel out of their way to buy a ticket and will be able to buy en-route or at their destination.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to return smart motorways to ordinary motorways in the interests of safety.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
On 16 April, the Government announced that all plans for new smart motorways have been cancelled, recognising the lack of confidence felt by drivers and cost pressures. This means no new smart motorways will be built.
We are focused on investing £900m to add further safety improvements to existing smart motorways, including constructing 150 extra emergency areas – so that people can continue to get around easily and with increased confidence.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect the pot holes on the A1(M) to have been repaired.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Safety inspections on the A1(M) are carried out by National Highways on a weekly basis and since January this year they have identified and repaired 16 potholes on the A1(M) between junctions 15 and 16 (Alconbury to Peterborough). There are no further potholes identified or awaiting repair. A maintenance scheme to resurface and address surface defects on the northbound carriageway of this stretch of the road is planned for September/October 2023.
In the same period, National Highways has also identified over 340 potholes on the A1(M) in both directions between junctions 6 and 10. To date, they have repaired 323 and plan to carry out minor surface repairs to address the remaining 19 potholes over the next two months.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they monitor whether local authorities are using funds provided by central Government for repairing potholes for that purpose.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Department for Transport (DfT) allocates capital funding to local highways authorities under Section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003 (“the Act”) so that they can most effectively spend this funding on maintaining and improving their respective networks, based upon their local knowledge, circumstances, and priorities.
Section 31 grant funding is not ringfenced as set out in the Act; it is up to the highway authority how to spend this funding to fulfil its statutory duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980. Local decision makers are democratically accountable for the decisions they take.
DfT strongly encourages authorities to spend their allocations on highways maintenance activities and advocates a risk-based whole lifecycle asset management approach to local authority highways maintenance programmes. This considers all parts of the highway network, such as gulleys, bridges, cycleways, and lighting columns – and not just the fixing of potholes.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Swiss Federal Railways regarding its trial of laying solar panels in between railway tracks in order to generate electricity.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Network Rail has had discussions with the Swiss Federal Railways and is aware of their strategic priorities, broadly aligning with its own.
The proposed solar panel innovation is interesting, but an initial analysis suggests that the proposal underestimates the challenges of maintaining the solar panels in a dusty, vibrating environment. The business case has also not been proven, noting that the deployment of assets in a safety critical location is necessarily more expensive than using land away from the track.
Finally, Network Rail is concerned that the installation would also conceal track fastenings making it more difficult to safely maintain the railway with Network Rail’s video track inspection system.
Network Rail is aiming for 100 percent of its non-traction electricity to be from renewable sources by 2030 and has committed to seek to reduce the carbon footprint of traction electricity consumption by directly purchasing renewable electricity from specific new renewable projects. Network Rail is at an early stage in the process of reviewing options for feeding renewable electricity directly into the traction power supply. Through our First of a Kind scheme the Department for Transport has supported various projects looking at feeding renewable electricity into the railway. This includes providing £750,000 to Riding Sunbeams to develop and trial an innovative connection between renewable electricity generation and overhead electrification.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the cost to public funds of the failure of 630,000 tree saplings planted along the A14 by National Highways; and whether any lessons have been learned for future tree planting schemes.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
A total of c.860,000 trees have been planted across the mainline scheme and National Highways have spent c.£2m to date. There is a further c.£2m within the original budget to undertake the necessary work and bring the planting on the scheme into a better condition.
National Highways conducted a review in the Autumn 2022 to analyse reasons for tree failures and inform a replanting strategy. This included analysing soil samples taken along the route to better understand the reasons for failure.
Based on the lessons learned, National Highways has produced a replanting strategy which includes:
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Drivers Medical Group of the DVLA have a target to respond to letters from the general public; and if not, whether they will consider introducing a 30 day response target.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency aims to respond to 95 per cent of correspondence from the general public within ten working days.