Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what security measures have been implemented on platforms at underground and mainline rail stations to protect the public from acts of violence or terrorism.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Secretary of State regulates the national rail network in Great Britain, and other networks such as the London Underground, to provide appropriate protective security regimes against acts of terrorism. For reasons of security it is not appropriate to discuss these regimes in detail, but they require the implementation of a range of measures by industry which are adapted to the level of assessed threat and which can be varied according to the threat assessment at particular times. The measures directed by the Department are complemented by the counter terrorism activities of the British Transport Police (BTP). The BTP also undertake a full range of policing activities to protect those using our railways against wider criminal acts.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing the national speed limit on rural roads.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Department has provided guidance to traffic authorities in the Speed Limit Circular 01/2013- Setting Local Speed Limits. This encourages traffic authorities to keep speed limits under review, and to consider lower speed limits than the default, especially where there may be a relatively high number of bends, junctions or accesses.
Consideration of collision history, road function, mix of road users including presence of vulnerable road users, road geometry, engineering and environment, and actual traffic speed should enable traffic authorities to determine the appropriate limit on rural roads.