Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations she has received from disability and passenger rights organisations in Wiltshire on Great Western Railway’s proposed staffing reductions; and if she will publish a summary of those representations.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Great Western Railway (GWR) are not proposing any staffing reductions in Wiltshire and we have not had any representations from disability and passenger rights organisations on this subject. GWR have confirmed that they will not be bringing forward any changes to ticket office opening hours at the current time.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the £7 million allocated to Wiltshire Council under the bus service improvement plan 2025–26 in meeting the county's rural transport needs.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government allocated £6.9 million to Wiltshire Council in 25/26 through the £712 million Local Authority Bus Grant to support and improve bus services. This includes £4 million to support the delivery of Wiltshire’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).
The government used a formula to determine BSIP allocations in 25/26 based on need, including population, the distance that buses travel, and the levels of deprivation. Under the formula, Wiltshire Council have seen an increase in BSIP funding compared to 24/25, when they were allocated £2.1 million.
This funding can be used whichever way the local transport authority wishes to deliver better bus services for passengers, including supporting bus services in rural areas.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of Great Western Railway’s proposed reductions on ticket office staffing on access for disabled and elderly passengers in Wiltshire; and if she will publish that assessment.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Any changes to ticket office opening hours in relation to regulated stations covered by Schedule 17 of the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement (TSA) must be made following the TSA process and Secretary of State guidance. This includes a requirement to consider the impact the change will have on those with protected characteristics. No proposal has been submitted through the TSA Process.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of Great Western Railway’s proposals to reduce (a) ticket office windows and (b) station staffing levels on passenger (i) service and (ii) safety in Wiltshire.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
While ticket office opening hours are regulated through the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement process, the operation of ticket office windows and staffing levels is the responsibility of the train operator. We understand that Great Western Railway has no plans to reduce station staff in Wiltshire.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she has taken to (a) support and (b) encourage the installation of more audio-visual real time information on (i) busses and (ii) trains for (A) visually-impaired and (B) hard of hearing passengers in Wiltshire.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government is committed to improving transport services right across the country, including in Wiltshire, so they are more inclusive and enable disabled people to travel safely, confidently and with dignity.
On 1 October 2024, the first phase of the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations 2023 came into force, meaning that newer vehicles providing local services must provide accessible audible and visible information on stops, destinations and diversions. The majority of services will need to comply by October 2026. Last year, the Department launched the £4.65 million Accessible Information Grant Scheme, to support the smallest bus and coach companies to provide audible and visible information onboard their services consistent with the Regulations.
With regard to rail, as of 1 January 2022, all passenger rolling stock is compliant with modern accessibility standards, including the requirement to have a dynamic audio-visual passenger information system for the benefit in particular of vision-impaired and hearing-impaired passengers.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of (a) early morning and (b) late evening bus services in Wiltshire for (i) shift workers and (ii) NHS staff.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government knows that a modern public transport network is vital to keeping communities connected, and ensuring people can get to education and work, including shift workers and NHS staff.
The government believes that local transport authorities, working with bus operators, are best placed to determine and design local bus networks in their area. The government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December to put the power over local bus services back into the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of communities that rely on them.
In addition, the government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country, of which Wiltshire Council has been allocated £6.9 million. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce improvements to bus services and infrastructure to best meet the needs of passengers in their local area, which could include supporting off-peak bus services.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will publish the average bus punctuality rates for Wiltshire for each year since 2015.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The average bus punctuality rates (specifically, the percentage of non-frequent bus services running on time) for Wiltshire are available for each year between the year ending March 2015 and the year ending March 2024 in the Department’s published Annual Bus Statistics. This data can be found in Table BUS09a: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/bus-statistics-data-tables#bus-reliability-and-punctuality-bus09.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it is her policy to maintain the number of driving test centres in rural communities.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is committed to providing its customers, including those in rural areas, with the best service possible. DVSA continually reviews its estate to ensure it represents good value for money and is efficient.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many train services were (a) cancelled and (b) delayed by more than 15 minutes on routes serving Chippenham railway station in the most recent 12 month period for which data is available.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) publish statistics on punctuality and reliability of trains operating on the mainline network on a periodic basis.
The Train Operating Company providing services to Chippenham station is Great Western Railway. In the financial year 2024/25:
a) An average of 4.6% of services scheduled by Great Western Railways were cancelled.
(Source: ORR - Table 3124 https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/performance/passenger-rail-performance/table-3124-trains-planned-and-cancellations-by-operator-and-cause-periodic/).
b) On average, 96.6% of services run by Great Western Railway trains arrived within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival time
(Source: ORR - Table 3138 https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/performance/passenger-rail-performance/table-3138-train-punctuality-at-recorded-station-stops-by-operator-periodic/).
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to assess the potential impact of the extended £2 bus fare cap on residents' access to (a) essential services and (b) employment opportunities in Wiltshire.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government is investing over £150 million to deliver the new £3 cap on single bus fares in England outside London from 1 January until 31 December 2025 to help keep bus fares affordable. Under the plans of the previous administration, the £2 cap on bus fares had been due to expire on 31 December 2024, and prior to the Budget, there was no further funding available to maintain a cap on bus fares beyond this point.
The final monitoring and evaluation report into the impact of the £2 bus fare cap was published on 12 February. An evaluation of the £3 fare cap is due to be commissioned shortly.