Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of removing train guards from trains for disabled passengers who use the railways.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Trains have operated safely in the UK for many years as Driver Only Operation, and the Office of Rail and Road as the independent regulator has approved this approach. The proposed reforms, including to station roles, intend to provide greater flexibility for operators to deploy staff in multiskilled customer-facing roles, able to deliver more assistance for disabled passengers and those with additional needs where and when it is most needed. The Secretary of State takes his duty to consider equality issues when forming policy, in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010, very seriously. Due regard on equalities impacts is being given accordingly.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the (a) relevance and (b) applicability of the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement to railway services in 2022.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Ticketing and Settlement Agreement sets out industry rules and practices relating to fares, ticketing, retail and the carriage of passengers. We are committed to modernising working practices, simplifing and improving passengers’ experience of buying tickets, and to ensure passengers get the support they need from staff when using the railways. Part of this will involve working with industry to consider how these practices should be governed in future.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to replace the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Ticketing and Settlement Agreement sets out industry rules and practices relating to fares, ticketing, retail and the carriage of passengers. We are committed to modernising working practices, simplifing and improving passengers’ experience of buying tickets, and to ensure passengers get the support they need from staff when using the railways. Part of this will involve working with industry to consider how these practices should be governed in future.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment on the variation in railway passenger numbers on different weekdays; and if he will make it his Department's policy to mandate train companies to introduce a different timetable with more capacity on the days with more passengers.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Industry is already running more trains on working days, when more passengers are likely to travel to and from work, and on Saturdays, when many passengers use the railway for leisure. The train operating companies will use the December 2022 timetable change to make significant changes to the national timetable to improve the service passengers receive, and continue to tailor their offer to demand. These changes are intended to improve performance for passengers and provide services that respond to current passenger demand and suit the needs of local communities.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the service provided by Avanti.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Avanti West Coast has started to increase its service levels, targeting additional trains every day where they are most needed and train crew resources allow, but the current service remains insufficient. The issues experienced on Avanti West Coast are exactly why we need to modernise the railways, to ensure passengers get a reliable timetable no matter when they travel and are not relying on drivers working overtime in order to run a full service.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the trends in the level of rail patronage have been in the latest period for which data is available; and whether his Department has taken recent steps to increase modal shift onto rail.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Statistics on the number of rail passenger journeys are published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). This data is published on a quarterly basis. Table 1 below presents the number of passenger journeys undertaken in each quarter.
Table 1: The number of passenger journeys, Great Britain | |
Quarter | Number of Passenger Journeys (million) |
April to June 2021 | 182.0 |
July to September 2021 | 247.9 |
October to December 2021 | 285.0 |
January to March 2022 | 275.1 |
April to June 2022 | 331.8 |
Source: ORR Table 1221 - Passenger Journeys by Sector, Great Britain | |
The Department is continuing to work closely with industry to support demand and revenue recovery. For example, the industry has undertaken national marketing targeted at lapsed and potential customers to remind them of the benefits and good value of rail travel.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of delaying the establishment of Great British Railways beyond the initial expected timetable on the introduction of a single ticketing offer.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Plan for Rail sets out our aim to improve rail online retail, ending the current confusion passengers face with multiple train operating company websites. We are continuing to work with the sector to tackle the challenges set out in the Plan for Rail, including improving online retail for the benefit of passengers, and will introduce rail reform legislation as soon as possible, when Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential cost to his Department of delaying the establishment of Great British Railways beyond the initial expected timetable.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
We are committed to working with the sector to tackle the challenges Keith Williams set out in the Plan for Rail White Paper and that have faced the railway as it recovers from the pandemic. We will bring forward legislation when Parliamentary time allows.
Ahead of legislation, we are working closely with the Great British Railways Transition Team and the sector to improve journeys for passengers and create a better, more modern railway. The cost of establishment and ongoing operations of Great British Railways will be confirmed in the final business case in 2023.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of delaying the establishment of Great British Railways beyond the initial expected timetable on rail services.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
We are committed to working with the sector to tackle the challenges Keith Williams set out in the Plan for Rail White Paper and that have faced the railway as it recovers from the pandemic. We will bring forward legislation when Parliamentary time allows.
Ahead of legislation, we are working closely with the Great British Railways Transition Team and the sector to improve journeys for passengers and create a better, more modern railway. The cost of establishment and ongoing operations of Great British Railways will be confirmed in the final business case in 2023.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of levels of staffing required at railway stations on step-free access at those stations.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Staff will continue to provide face-to-face service on our railways for passengers who need additional support. We are committed to transforming accessibility across the UK rail network and moving staff out of underused ticket offices and into the station will mean they can provide help where it is most needed. Furthermore, we are currently undertaking a full accessibility audit across 2,564 stations across Great Britain to help shape future investment in accessible rail travel.