Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, at what level his Department values the reduction of risk of death per fatal casualty prevented; and if he will give an example of policy intervention where this evaluation was made.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
I refer my Hon. Friend to my answer of 7 July 2014 [Official Report, column 167W].
The value of a prevented fatality is used in the appraisal for every infrastructure investment business case. It is also used in the Impact Assessments for relevant policy interventions. For example, the Impact Assessment on the new drug driving offence takes account of the value of preventing a fatality in assessing the overall impact of the offence. The latest Impact Assessment can be found at:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2014/9780111117422/impacts
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what measures of the value of life and health were included in the evidence submitted as part of his Department's work with the Inter-departmental Group for the Valuation of Life and Health review in 2008.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
In response to my Right Hon. Friend's previous question on this matter, the evidence submitted as part of this review was placed in the Libraries of the House on 25th June 2014.
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what explicit monetary value his Department assigns to the value of preventing a fatality calculation during the process of policy appraisal and evaluation.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The value of a prevented fatality used in transport analysis is £1,632,892 (in 2010 prices and at 2010 incomes). The value is given in Table A4.1.1 of the WebTAG (web-based transport analysis guidance) data book:
(https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/webtag-tag-data-book-may-2014)
Guidance on using it, and related values, is given in TAG Unit A4.1 Social Impact Appraisal (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/webtag-tag-unit-a4-1-social-impact-appraisal).
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what monetary thresholds were applied to the cost-per-quality adjusted life year quoted in the evidence submitted as part of his Department's work with the Inter-departmental Group for the Valuation of Life and Health review in 2008.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
As suggested by the evidence submitted as part of the Department's work with the Inter-Departmental Group for the Valuation of Life and Health review in 2008, the Department for Transport does not use cost per quality adjusted life year in its analysis.
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's submission to the Inter-departmental Group for the Valuation of Life and Health review and evidence submitted to the series of interviews with his Department's staff conducted by researchers from the University of Leeds published in 2008.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
I can inform my Rt Hon Friend that the documents have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 31 March 2014, Official Report, columns 408-9W, on High Speed 2 railway line, whether his Dedpartment has subsequently compared double-decking with revised estimates of the costs and effects of High Speed 2.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
As per the answer of 31 March 2014, since 2009 we have considered a wide range of alternative options to a high speed railway including the use of alternative modes, a conventional speed line and upgrades to the existing rail network, including double decking.
Specifically, the March 2010 High Speed 2 Strategic Alternatives Study considered the potential for using double deck trains on WCML as one means of enhancing capacity on conventional rail routes between London and the West Midlands/North West. Details of this study, including evidence of expense, disruption and capacity, can be found at:
This work found that while double deck carriages could increase the number of passengers per train there is a practical limit to the expansion of capacity in this manner and it offers limited potential to lead to journey time savings.
This option is also likely to lead to significant disruption and expense. Before such trains could be used on the West Coast Mainline, the route (including diversionary routes) would need to be gauge cleared to allow sufficient space for the trains to operate. This would involve raising all overhead wires, raising bridges, modifying platforms on the route, modifying station canopies, moving or raising all signal gantries and other signage on the route, and lowering track in the tunnels. Work would need to be carried out to modify existing depots or to provide new ones. Additional works would also be required to enable line speeds to be maintained on the route.
For these reasons it was concluded that there was a strong case for not considering this option further. No subsequent work has therefore been done to compare it to the case for HS2.
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 28 April 2014, Official Report, columns 517-8W, on railways: passengers, what the evidential basis is for the stated forecast of increases in passenger numbers on the West Coast Main Line over the next 10 years.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
Chapter 4 of Network Rail's West Coast Route Utilisation Strategy describes the evidential basis and modelling approach of the anticipated changes in demand to 2024-25 which are contained in the same document. This is now available at:
http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/imagelibrary/downloadMedia.ashx?MediaDetailsID=4675
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, where the greatest overcrowding on the rail network is; and how High Speed 2 will reduce that overcrowding.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
DfT publishes statistics showing the levels of peak crowding in a number of major cities each year, based on the proportion of passengers in excess of capacity (PiXC) and the proportion of passengers standing at trains' busiest points. The latest publication from 2012 is published at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rail-passenger-numbers-and-crowding-on-weekdays-in-major-cities-in-england-and-wales-2012.
The PiXC statistics show that the highest levels of crowding are generally seen on peak London commuter services. In autumn 2012 the highest PiXC levels across the morning and afternoon peaks were on First Great Western services at Paddington, Chiltern services at Marylebone and London Midland services at Euston.
The Strategic Case for HS2 (www.gov.uk/government/publications/hs2-strategic-case) sets out how HS2 has the capacity to triple the number of seats leaving Euston on the West Coast Main Line Corridor. By releasing capacity on the classic network, HS2 will ease crowding on crowded commuter routes into Euston, particularly London Midland services and potentially Chiltern services as well.
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how he expects High Speed 2 to reduce overcrowding at London Waterloo.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
High Speed 2 is not intended to reduce overcrowding at London Waterloo, as it has been designed as a link between London Euston, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester.
The 2012 Rail Investment Strategy (HLOS) has asked the industry to provide additional peak capacity for 9,700 extra passengers into Waterloo by 2019 and has provided funding for Network Rail to expand Waterloo and other stations. Network Rail and South West Trains have set out plans to lengthen peak trains and South West Trains is now in discussions with the Department for Transport.
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how High Speed 2 improve reliability and reduce overcrowding on regional links between towns and cities in the North West.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
By moving long distance passengers off the existing network, HS2 will release capacity for more regional services, reducing overcrowding and improving reliability, as well as improving connectivity. Nationally, the Economic Case for HS2 found that HS2 will deliver reliability benefits worth £5.5bn, and reduced crowding benefits of £7.5bn, which includes benefits to regional services in the North West.
In response to recommendations made by Sir David Higgins, HS2 Ltd and Network Rail have been commissioned to consider what further improvements can be made to centre to city centre connectivity, east-west links and local connectivity in the Midlands and the North, with a final report on options in 2015.