Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the inclusion of the Northallerton to Teesport line in the rail electrification scheme.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Transpennine Route Upgrade is an ambitious and challenging programme which is due to be delivered by December 2022. There are currently no plans within this scope to electrify the line between Northallerton and Teesport. However, this does not preclude the thinking of future electrification as a further phase following the delivery of the current scope in 2022.
I can confirm that the current assumption for services between Manchester and Middlesbrough is that these will operated by new bi-mode trains i.e. capable of diesel and electric operation. The new bi-mode will offer significant journey time savings for passengers on this route.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress has been made on increasing the number of wheelchair accessible stations from street to platform level at National Rail and London Underground stations.
Answered by Claire Perry
We take improving station accessibility very seriously and the Access for All programme has delivered step free access at over 150 stations with a further 68 projects in construction or development. In addition, whenever infrastructure work is carried out at stations it must meet current accessibility standards. For example, when Crossrail fully opens in 2019, all 40 stations on the route will also have step free access.
Step free access to London Underground is a matter for Transport for London, but I understand that 66 Tube stations and 57 London Overground stations currently have step-free access, and Docklands Light Railway stations are all step-free.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that broken accessibility equipment on buses is considered as a priority for repair.
Answered by Andrew Jones
From 1 January 2016 all single-deck buses designed to carry over twenty-two passengers on local and scheduled routes must comply with the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations (PSVAR), which require them to incorporate a wheelchair space and boarding facility, priority seating and other features to make journeys easier for a range of disabled people. Double deckers must comply by January 2017, and coaches by 2020.
Currently 89% of buses are compliant, and last year just 47 of the 7,343 public service vehicles subject to routine checks were found to have PSVAR related defects. Operators of vehicles found to be non-compliant are required to rectify faults promptly or risk enforcement action.
We expect all operators to comply with the law and are working with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency to ensure it continues to be enforced effectively.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that bus operators educate their drivers on wheelchair use of the accessible space on buses.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Buses subject to the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations (PSVAR) must incorporate a designated wheelchair space.
Priorities for the use of this facility are currently the subject of proceedings at the Supreme Court.
The assistance provided by drivers can be key to giving many disabled people the confidence to travel by bus however, and we have asked Mott MacDonald to review disability-awareness training from across the transport sector to inform the development of best practice guidance for bus operators. Our aim is to ensure that every bus driver has the skills and knowledge to provide disabled customers with a first class service.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of bus services in Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Teesside.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The bus market outside London is deregulated and decisions regarding service provision is primarily a commercial matter for bus operators. Decisions about the provision of subsidised services are a matter for individual English local authorities, in the light of their other spending priorities.
The Government is committed to supporting bus services in England. We are taking forward a Buses bill to provide local authorities with the tools they need to improve local bus services.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the replacement of pacer trains that form part of the Northern franchise deal with Arriva Rail North Limited.
Answered by Andrew Jones
As we have stated, Pacers will be removed by the end of 2019. It is for the new operator to decide how and when (by that date) this occurs.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the time the DVLA takes to process reapplications for a driving license after a suspension of that license for medical reasons.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency does not hold specific information about the processing times for driving licence applications, which were submitted following the revocation of a licence for medical reasons.
The DVLA aims to complete 90% of all cases that require further medical investigations within 90 working days and is working hard to identify ways of improving the time taken to deal with these cases. Additional caseworkers and medical advisers have been employed and new processes introduced to speed up the time it takes to receive the necessary information. Longer term, the DVLA is considering digital solutions to improve the service it provides in this area.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on the ability of young drivers to gain insurance cover of the recent increase in the insurance premium tax.
Answered by Andrew Jones
My officials have not made an assessment. There are a number of behavioural, educational and technological interventions that have the potential to help improve young driver safety and hence have an impact on insurance premiums. We need better evidence about what works best, so we’re working with insurance companies to see how we can assess the impact of telematics products, amongst other things, on young driver safety.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to tackle the rising cost of motor insurance.
Answered by Andrew Jones
A combination of legislative changes and working with stakeholders on reducing the frequency and cost of personal injury claims resulted in a 14% drop in average insurance premiums between 2012 and 2014.
This Government is determined to continue working with the insurance industry to tackle uninsured driving and reduce the cost of motor insurance.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of progress on High Speed 2.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
In March, the Department for Transport published ‘HS2: On track’, which summarises the considerable progress made on the project since 2010 and sets out the next steps. HS2 remains on track, both in terms of Parliamentary process and in terms of practical preparations permitted under the High Speed Rail (Preparation) Act.
The hybrid Bill for the first phase of HS2 is making good progress through Parliament. Of the 1,960 petitions received, over 500 have been dealt with so far during the Select Committee process, which began in July last year. This is approximately twice as many as were dealt with by the Crossrail Committee in 21 months of sittings.
Ground Investigation works have begun at both ends of the Phase One route. These works will inform the design stage of the major civil works due to start in 2017/2018, for which the initial stages of procurement of the enabling works have already commenced.
Following the close of the public consultation on the proposed route for Phase Two in January 2014, HS2 Ltd and the Department have been analysing route and station options as reflected in David Higgins’ reports of March and October 2014. The Government intends to announce the way forward on Phase Two later this year.
The Government has previously said it will deliver HS2 in the north sooner by preparing a dedicated hybrid Bill to lay during this Parliament. This is with a view to bringing HS2 to Crewe sooner than planned, subject to further analysis and decisions on preferred route. We will also look at the case for accelerating the construction of the route between Leeds and Sheffield, and allowing it to be used by for fast regional train services.