Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effects of there being only one railway line between Salisbury and Yeovil on (1) the travelling public and (2) the carriage of goods.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
We are aware of the issues between Salisbury and Yeovil and the lack of resilience due to the nature of this single line. Department officials continue to work with the South Western Railway and Network Rail in providing as much resilience as possible, including by increasing the Operator management resource tasked specifically to look at West of England line issues.
The Government recognises that the economic and environmental potential of rail freight is significant and is fully committed to supporting its growth. Under our plans to deliver the biggest overhaul of the railways in a generation, Great British Railways will have a duty and targets to grow the use of rail freight. Currently freight only operates between Salisbury and Worting Junction (Basingstoke).
There is no freight operation between Salisbury and Yeovil Junction. Network Rail is working with stakeholders and industry partners to understand the capacity and performance issues on the West of England Line and identify how these can be mitigated.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what expectation they have for train operating companies and ticket websites to provide information to passengers using mobility scooters about their use of a pass policy for the scooter, either when wheelchair seats or passenger support is booked.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Train and station operators are required by their operating licences to establish and comply with an Accessible Travel Policy (ATP) which must be approved by the Office of Rail and Road. An ATP sets out, among other things, the arrangements and assistance that an operator will provide to protect the interests of disabled people using its services and to facilitate such use.
The guidance states that operators must set out their policies regarding the carriage of mobility scooters and other mobility aids for mobility-impaired people on their trains. Operators must make the reasoning behind their policies clear, particularly with regard to any policy excluding the carriage of some or all mobility scooters and mobility aids.
We would expect all customers purchasing a ticket that require assistance to complete their journey to be directed to the Passenger Assist Scheme.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the levels of reported crime on the Salisbury and Yeovil Railway.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The British Transport Police (BTP) are responsible for policing the rail network across England, Wales and Scotland. They recorded the following number of incidents at stations on the Salisbury and Yeovil railway line: 2020/21 58, 2021/22 55, 2022/23 87 and 2023/24 83. The increase from 2021/22 is in line with increasing passenger numbers on the rail network following the easing of travel restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Along with data from the rest of the railway, the BTP will continually review crime trends and patterns from the Salisbury and Yeovil line, and gather intelligence to inform their daily operational deployments, including both uniform and plain clothes officers.
If passengers see or experience crime on the rail network, they should report this to BTP using the 61016 text service, via the Railway Guardian app or online. In an emergency, they should always call 999.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department plans to take with Cabinet colleagues to help reduce violence against women and girls on public transport.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government is committed to tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), and we have set out our unprecedented mission to halve it within a decade. Achieving this means concerted work on prevention and overhauling every aspect of society’s response to these devastating crimes.
The Department for Transport is working across government to address these issues. We are also piloting Transport Safety Officers in five areas in England, including officers specifically trained to respond to incidents of VAWG.
The Department also continues to work closely with transport partners, including the British Transport Police, on a range of initiatives to address the problems faced by all passengers, on the transport network. This includes the Railway Guardian app which provides safety advice, links to partner organisations and enables reporting of incidents to the force directly. BTP uses specialist teams of plain clothed and uniformed officers across the network to target and identify offenders. It also uses enhanced patrols, with a directed, intelligence-led focus around the nighttime economy, providing high visibility presence to reassure rail staff and the public.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve transport links in West Yorkshire.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My Department is committed to improving transport links in West Yorkshire, and across the country. West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) has been allocated £830m of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements funding over a five-year period, to help transform local transport into an integrated and inclusive network. Included in the investment is £160m set aside for mass transit development in West Yorkshire.
WYCA has also received £13.373m of additional Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding for 2024/2025, helping deliver their vision for better buses in West Yorkshire. The Department’s Buses Bill will support WYCA in their vision to bring buses back under local control, ensuring their networks can meet the needs of the communities who rely on them.
Additionally, as part of improving rail connectivity in West Yorkshire and the rest of the country, we have established Shadow Great British Railways to bring a major overhaul of the rail network, putting passengers first and driving up performance.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of the Aylesbury spur of the East-West Rail link for the (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) UK economy.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Along with East West Rail Company and Network Rail, the Department for Transport is considering the merits of providing an East West Rail link to Aylesbury, and shared both cost information and the results of business case analysis with the local authority. A final decision will be made in due course.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of (a) signalling safety, (b) service reliability and (c) maintenance on the West Coast Mainline.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is clear that performance on the West Coast Main Line has not been good enough with too many cancellations and delays.
Ministers recently met with the Managing Director of Avanti West Coast and the Network Rail West Coast South Route Director to challenge them on poor performance and demand immediate action to deliver urgent improvements relating to service reliability. Ministers will be meeting them again next month to follow-up and to ensure progress.
In their capacity as the independent safety regulator, the Office of Rail and Road has not raised any concerns regarding signalling safety on the West Coast Mainline.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, if any, with train operating companies regarding the practice of conducting ticket checks at the footbridge of Sheffield railway station, which is a public right of way.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Deploying revenue protection staff to deter ticketless travel, and doing so in a reasonable and efficient manner, is a matter for train operating companies.
Revenue protection offers passengers an additional level of safety and security whilst travelling on the rail network.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to require all new passenger trains to be built with step-free access through at least one set of doors per carriage.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone has the same access to the rail network regardless of their needs. When procuring new trains operators are expected to minimise the height of the train door relative to the standard platform height to improve access and minimise risks for all passengers.
Under current accessibility requirements contained within the Persons with Reduced Mobility National Technical Specification Notice, operators are required to provide boarding ramps to provide step-free access to passengers boarding or alighting from trains.
Step-free access is also possible with existing rolling stock at stations which have been modified with raised platforms or built to enable level boarding.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Secretary of State granted one or more Special Orders under section 44 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 which permitted the movement of long trams from the Very Light Rail Innovation Centre in Dudley to the Metro Maintenance Centre in Wednesbury on 15 February; and if so, whether the haulier who moved a tram on that date gave five clear working days’ notice to all the relevant authorities in accordance with the relevant Special Order.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
National Highways did issue a special order for the movement of ten trams from Dudley to Wednesbury.
Whilst the Department cannot respond on behalf of the other relevant authorities, the haulier did give five clear working days’ notice to National Highways for the movement on 15th February.