Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the rail sector on timetable changes proposed for the East Coast Main Line.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
I met with the rail industry to discuss the delay to the upgrade timetable and how the improvements can be delivered as soon as possible.
I have made clear the importance of Network Rail continuing to develop a process for eventually delivering this timetable and realising the benefits of £4 billion investment in infrastructure and rolling stock on the route.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Gower on 29 April (HL3879), whether the latest announcement about the postponement of the introduction of an updated timetable for the East Coast Mainline Railway is due to the Office of Rail and Road's rigidity in agreeing access rights, which cannot be made flexible with the train operators' agreement.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Timetable production and access rights issues are governed by Network Rail’s Network Code, which is regulated by the Office of Rail and Road. We expect the rail industry to work through these issues in order to deliver the upgraded timetable and realise the benefits of £4bn investment in track and train.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the revised timetable for the East Coast Main Line will be delivered by December 2024.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are disappointed with the deferment of the East Coast Main Line timetable upgrade which cannot be delivered robustly in December 2024.
The industry steering group that oversees timetable introduction concluded that there are too many outstanding issues to have confidence in the upgrade being ready in 2024.
It is important that Network Rail continues to develop a process for delivering the upgraded timetable and realising the benefits of £4 billion investment in track and train.
Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of the new rail capacity created by the East Coast Main Line upgrade works will be allocated to open access rail services.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport does not specify the allocation of increased capacity. However, open access operators may apply to utilise available capacity alongside operators contracted by Government. It will then be a matter for Network Rail and the Office of Rail and Road to decide through the established systems and processes how capacity should ultimately be allocated.
Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of East Coast Main Line intercity passenger services are delivered by open access operators.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Network Rail have confirmed that within the current timetable, published in December 2023, 8.92% of East Coast Main Line intercity passenger services are delivered by Open Access operators.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with LNER on their simpler fares trial.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Department officials engage regularly with the LNER team on the trial and we will carefully consider the results before taking decisions on any wider extension.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of direct trains from Peterborough to London Kings Cross have been cancelled in the last six months.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
London North Eastern Railway cancelled a total of 1,501 services between Peterborough and London between 23 July 2023 and 6 January 2024. This equates to 6.1 per cent of their services between these stations. In the past six months Govia Thameslink Railway had 1,673 direct services scheduled to run from Peterborough to King’s Cross, 126 (7.5 per cent) of them were cancelled. A significant proportion of cancellations were due to flooding from named storms and infrastructure failures.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2023 to Question 800 on East Coast Main Line: Weather, how many signalling failures there were on the East Coast Main Line in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022; and what assessment he has made of trends in the (i) number and (ii) frequency of signalling failures on the East Coast Main Line since 2010.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The average time between Service Affecting Failures on the ECML has become less frequent since 2010 and is trending downwards. I can confirm there were 312 signalling failures in 2021/22, and 247 in 2022/23.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any funds from the cancellation of Phase 2 of the HS2 project will be reallocated to help increase capacity on the East Coast Main Line.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The up-to-£3.5bn upgrades for the ECML outlined in the Integrated Rail Plan remain unaffected by the Network North announcement. These upgrades will seek to upgrade and improve line speeds and capacity across the route.
The Department has provided Network Rail with early-stage development funding to begin consideration of how these ambitious plans can be delivered as efficiently as possible. Several component schemes are at a more mature stage of delivery, including enhancements at Darlington Station – where construction work has now commenced – and upgrades at York Station.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many signalling failures there have been on the East Cost Main Line in the last six months; and if he will make an assessment of the impact of these signalling failures on passengers.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Over the past six months, there have been 132 signalling-only failures across the whole of the East Coast Main Line.
We recognise that signal failures can be highly disruptive to passengers’ journeys. We are in regular contact with Network Rail, who are responsible for signalling infrastructure, and train operators to reduce the number of signal failures, the time that the infrastructure is out of action whilst repairs are undertaken and the overall impact on passengers.