Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to improve the rail network around Bradford.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government’s investment in track and signalling infrastructure as part of the Great North Rail Project, and additional train services to be delivered through the new Northern franchise, will bring significant benefits to Bradford by providing more and faster services with new connections to Manchester, Manchester Airport, Liverpool, Warrington, Chester, Sheffield and Nottingham by the end of 2019 - all operated with brand new trains. Furthermore, additional direct trains to London are planned by the Virgin Trains East Coast franchise.
Bradford is also benefiting from locally-sponsored investment in the rail network including the opening of two new stations at Low Moor and Apperley Bridge.
The Department for Transport is working closely with Transport for the North to assess the case for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) including whether the NPR network can serve key markets such as Bradford.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to increase the number of cyclists outside London.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government’s Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy was published in April 2017, and sets out our plans to increase cycling and walking across England. The strategy aims to make cycling and walking the natural choices for short journeys or as part of a longer journey, and identifies £1.2 billion which may be invested in support of this over the five years from 2016/17 to 2020/21. Alongside the Strategy, the Government published guidance for local authorities to help them develop their own local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans, and will be providing further support to local authorities to help them develop these plans.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to promote the establishment of new tram lines in towns and cities in England.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government supports light rail where it can be shown to be the best solution to an area’s transport needs. It is for local authorities to decide whether light rail is the right solution and to develop plans. They can then bid for government funding if this is required.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of new trains on delays on franchised routes.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Franchised operators have performance targets within their Franchise Agreement which they are required to meet regardless of whether they use new or existing rolling stock.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been spent from the Access for All programme to improve the accessibility of railway stations in London.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since the programme was launched in 2006 more than £120m has been spent in London under Access for All. This is in addition to access improvements funded by Transport for London or the train operating companies, as well as major projects such as Thameslink or Crossrail.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the level of co-operation between local authorities and utility companies to minimise disruption to the public when undertaking work.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Under sections 59 and 60 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, highway authorities have a general duty to co-ordinate all street and road works on their networks and undertakers have a general duty to use their best endeavours to co-operate with such actions. The Traffic Management Act 2004 also places a Network Management Duty on local highway authorities to manage roads effectively to keep traffic moving.
We have not carried out a formal assessment, but although we consider that existing legislation is sufficient to enable effective co-operation to take place, it is clear that there is scope for reducing the impact on road users of works needed to deliver infrastructure and local services.
To this end we are engaged in a project that is looking to improve the way that data is collected and shared, how we can use this data to co-ordinate activities on the highway more effectively, and how the data can be used to inform the public about planned and live works.
To enable more proactive management of the local road network, the majority of highway authorities have introduced Permit Schemes, which enable the authority to stipulate conditions under which works can take place on the highway. We are currently undertaking an evaluation of permit schemes which concludes in November, and we expect the outcome to demonstrate that such schemes provide a clear reduction in works duration. We are keen for the remaining authorities to develop such schemes.
We have also published statutory guidance entitled ‘Code of Practice for the Co-ordination of Street Works and Works for Road Purposes and Related Matters’. This can be found at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/street-works-co-ordination
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what land or buildings owned by, leased by, or under the control of, the Department for Transport they are seeking to dispose of, and for what purposes.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Information on Department for Transport land and property disposals will be published by the Department for Communities and Local Government in summer 2017 in the Transparency Review.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on passengers of the delay in the full electrification of the railway line from London to Cardiff.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In respect of train services connecting London with Cardiff, we are continuing to assess this programme to make sure we are delivering the services for passengers in a way that provides value for money for the taxpayers. Our new Intercity Express services will provide passengers with greater capacity and a more comfortable journey without the need to wait for full electrification.
We are committed to improving services for passengers on the Great Western line. We are investing in this route to deliver better services and new trains with thousands more seats. This is an ambitious and challenging undertaking, but real progress is being made.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the RAC, AA and other motoring organisations regarding the timely conduct of pothole repairs on roads in England.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department for Transport discusses a wide range of issues with the RAC, AA and other motoring organisations with respect to highways maintenance and other issues that affect road users.
The Department for Transport is investing over £12 billion in this Parliament for highways maintenance. This comprises over £6 billion to local highway authorities in England, outside London, including £250 million between now and 2021 to help repair potholes and other defects.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussion they have had with local authorities and the emergency services to ensure that roads in England and Wales are kept open in the event of poor winter weather in 2016–17.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department for Transport works closely with the transport sector, including local highway authorities, to prepare for the winter season 2016/17.
All key transport operators, including local authorities, train operating companies, Highways England, Network Rail and airports, have contingency plans in place to deal with winter weather that may be encountered.
The Department for Transport continues to liaise with salt producers and regularly updates the salt stock holdings being held across the country. The Government has retained an emergency salt stockpile of around 383,000 tonnes for this winter season. In addition both Highways England and local highways authorities have winter service vehicles for use on the road network, including 500 vehicles for dealing with incidents that may occur on the strategic road network.
The Department for Transport will shortly be writing to local highway authorities in England to remind them of their duties and to advise that they clean their drains and gullies in order to minimise the risk of surface water flooding on the highways for which they are responsible.
It must, however, be recognised that severe winter weather may cause some disruption to the transport network. If travel is disrupted then we expect operators and highway authorities to do everything they can to keep passengers and road users informed whilst ensuring that the networks resume services as quickly as possible.