Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2018 to Question 904102, when his Department plans to review the need for the electrification of the Reading to Basingstoke line.
Answered by Andrew Jones
There are currently no plans for a review by the Department of the need for electrification of the Reading to Basingstoke line. As previously stated in the Answer of 1 March 2018, a feasibility assessment identified that electrification of this line is not required to deliver improvements to passengers.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the accuracy of delay repay decisions.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Train operators are expected to have fair and transparent processes for considering Delay Repay applications as set out in detail in their Passenger’s Charter. The train operators use industry delay data provided by Network Rail, who have an obligation to ensure that this delay data is accurate.
If any passenger is unhappy with the decision taken by the train operator with regards to a Delay Repay claim, then they will shortly be able to take this up with the new Rail Ombudsman.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure lessons are learned from the roll-out of the new Govia Thameslink Railway before South Western Railway's new timetable is implemented.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The new timetable across Govia Thameslink Railway commenced on Sunday 20 May 2018 and there have been wholly unsatisfactory levels of disruption on those rail services since then. A combination of delayed Network Rail infrastructure works and reduced time to plan a modified timetable meant that the new timetable was finalised much too late to permit adequate logistical planning for the timetable changes. I am determined both that the problems are dealt with as quickly as possible, and that this is not repeated in the future.
I am also clear that the way timetabling is done has to change. It is obvious that Network Rail’s current timetabling system simply cannot cope with the volume of work that it has to complete, and so we have asked both the current leadership and the incoming Chief Executive, Andrew Haines, to ensure that this issue is addressed as a priority. Until this has been done, I will insist on a gradual approach to timetable change wherever possible and not the significant changes that we have seen this month. This is ahead of South Western Railway’s new December 2018 timetable.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's policy is on the use of average speed limit cameras on smart motorways (a) at all times and (b) when a variable speed limit is in force.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The speed cameras used to enforce variable speed limits on smart motorways are not average speed cameras but measure speed at a specific location. It is a decision for the local Police force, which has operational independence in these matters, whether or not to use the cameras to enforce the national speed limit when variable speed limits are not in operation.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's policy is on classifying the A316 as part of the Strategic Road Network.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Principal A-roads within the boundary of the Greater London Authority (GLA), such as the A316, are managed by Transport for London. In the GLA area, only motorways are part of the strategic road network, managed by Highways England.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department is making on fully automating delay repay procedures for rail passengers using smartcards.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Department policy is to support and encourage operators to make claiming compensation for delays as simple and swift as possible for passengers on all ticket types, including smartcards, through automated processes such as informing passengers of their right to claim via smartcards or Apps, on-line claim forms, and electronic logging of passengers’ details for payment purposes.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2018 to Question 122085 on Crossrail, what criteria his Department uses to assess whether such proposals are good value for money.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Department for Transport undertakes Cost-Benefit Analysis, using the guidance set out in WebTAG (available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/transport-analysis-guidance-webtag), to inform enhancement decisions.
This analysis considers the impacts of alternative options to deliver a stated objective, and attempts to quantify them where possible. These impacts include the infrastructure costs of the scheme and the ongoing financial impacts for railway services, as well as the social impacts of the scheme for train users and other affected parties (such as road users and local residents). Wider economic impacts (such as making it easier for people to access more productive jobs) are also considered.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2018 to Question 122085 on Crossrail, what assessment his Department has made of the technical feasibility of extending Crossrail to Basingstoke; and what criteria his Department uses to assess the technical feasibility of such proposals.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
There are no current plans to extend the Crossrail route to Basingstoke and no assessment has been made of the technical feasibility to do so.
The Governance for Railway Investment Projects (GRIP) process describes how Network Rail manages and controls projects that enhance or renew the national rail network. GRIP divides a project into eight stages. Options are considered at GRIP stage 2 (Feasibility) which looks at whether they can be delivered economically and in line with current network proposals and strategies. At this stage the preferred option is defined and outline designs are produced. Technical feasibility of an option that has been selected is usually considered in detail in GRIP stage 4, Single Option Development.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2018 to Question 122085 on Crossrail, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) amount and (b) availability of funding required.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Government’s and Transport for London’s immediate priority is to see the Crossrail project delivered on time and I am pleased to report that this continues to be the case, with full operations commencing from late 2019.
There are no current plans to extend the Crossrail route and no assessment has been made of the amount or availability of funding for an extension to Basingstoke.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on proposals to extend Crossrail from Reading to Basingstoke.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
There are no plans to extend the Crossrail route to Basingstoke. Any proposal to the extension of the Crossrail route would need to be technically feasible, offer good value for money and depend on the identification of funding.