Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the emergency funding provided to the national railways, whether he has asked Southern Railway to deliver an assessment of the effect of demand on sustainability, including modelling of medium-term service level requirements against possible demand scenarios after covid-19 travel restrictions are lifted.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Rail operators continue to assess local demand regularly to deliver the services passengers need. We continue to work closely with Govia Thameslink Railway (the operator of Southern services) as they develop future timetable proposals to make sure we strike the right balance between running the maximum levels of service that can be resourced reliably to meet demand and protecting taxpayers’ best interests.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many incidents of train delay were attributed to vegetation on each Network Rail Region in (a) 2019 and (b) 2020 to date.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Office for Rail and Road (ORR) publish summary statistics on the number of delay minutes and their causes. These statistics can be found here:
The following data produced by ORR shows the number of incidents on the railway attributed to vegetation management failure in 2019 and 2020 (to date) by Network Rail Region:
Network Rail Region | 2019* | 2020 (to date)* |
Eastern | 174 | 145 |
North West & Central | 147 | 112 |
Scotland | 67 | 95 |
Southern | 129 | 188 |
Wales & Western | 193 | 115 |
*This data is aggregated from data for (4-weekly) railway periods and therefore does not align precisely with calendar years. 2019 data represents the time period from 06/01/2019 to 04/01/2020. 2020 data is from 05/01/2020 to 12/10/2020 (railway period 7, latest data available).
Source: Network Rail data
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken, if any, to develop a process to select a partner for a Southern Railway link to Heathrow Airport following the recommendation in the report by Nichols and Agilia Southern Railway Link to Heathrow: market sounding, published on 19 December 2018; and what plans they have to establish a timescale for this process.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Market Sounding Findings Report was published in December 2018, indicating significant interest for development and financing of Southern Access to Heathrow, the scheme formerly known as Southern Rail Link to Heathrow (SRLtH).
However, the responses to the Market Sounding did not build a feasible case for a Market Led approach to a Southern Access to Heathrow which could progress without government support such as direct subsidy or infrastructure usage guarantees.
Following the publication of this report, Government has undertaken work to fulfil the recommendations set out in the report. The recommendations were that the Department should provide greater detail on minimum requirements and objectives for a SAtH scheme and that the Department should consider an appropriate commercial model for early market involvement.
In November 2019, following extensive stakeholder engagement, the Department published eight Strategic Objectives for SAtH, setting out a narrative and minimum requirements for each.
The Department has also been working alongside external commercial advisers to develop an appropriate ‘market involved’ commercial model for the delivery of this scheme. We remain committed that a Southern Access to Heathrow should be a ‘Pathfinder Project’ with increased levels of market involvement and that this approach will likely be in the form of a development partner or development manager.
Following Ministerial approval and alignment to the anticipated HM Treasury Infrastructure Finance Review, the Department intends to provide further guidance regarding the commercial approach for SAtH in early 2021.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in assessing the Outline Business Case for a southern rail link to Heathrow Airport submitted by Heathrow Southern Railway Limited to the Department for Transport in September 2016.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In September 2016, the Department received an unsolicited Outline Business Case for a rail link to Heathrow Airport from Heathrow Southern Railway Limited. Subsequently, two processes were undertaken regarding the development of a Southern Rail Link to Heathrow, forming the project now known as Southern Access to Heathrow (SAtH). The Market Led Proposals Call for Ideas, and the Southern Rail Link to Heathrow Market Sounding.
The market sounding process undertaken in 2018 did not ask for detailed specific schemes to be submitted, and no procurement process has been undertaken to select a preferred scheme for Southern Access to Heathrow.
The Department is working to develop an appropriate ‘market involved’ commercial model for the delivery of this scheme. This is an exciting opportunity to harness new and innovative ideas from the private sector while reducing the burden on fare and taxpayers.
The Department has continued to work closely with a range of interested stakeholders on the development of SAtH, including with Heathrow Southern Rail Limited.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many proposals for southern rail access to Heathrow were received in response to the Department for Transport’s call for market-led proposals, issued on 20 March 2018; what the names of such respondents were; and how many respondents have (1) contacted, and (2) been contacted by, the Department for Transport about those proposals since 13 December 2019.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
There were two processes carried out concurrently. The first was the Call for Ideas as part of the Market Led Proposals workstream, which was carried out by the Department to explore numerous scheme proposals across a broad range of transport regions and routes; the second was a Market Sounding process that focussed specifically on Southern Access to Heathrow (SAtH) (formerly Southern Rail Link to Heathrow).
There were twenty-seven contributors to the Southern Rail Link to Heathrow Market Sounding response. The Market Sounding Findings Report was published by Nichols and Agilia in October 2018, which includes the list of contributors to the Market Sounding questionnaire. The responses provided as part of the process were done under commercial confidentiality provisions.
The market sounding exercise did not call for specific proposals but sought to explore opportunities to access significant private sector funding sources beyond just rail passenger revenues, including those derived from wider non-rail benefits, and to understand the appetite of the private sector to share the risk of developing the Southern Access scheme.
Following the Market Sounding exercise, in November 2019 the Department published eight Strategic Objectives for the Southern Access scheme and is working to develop a commercial model to bring a private sector partner into the design and delivery of the project. Throughout this process, we have engaged significantly with stakeholders, including a number of those who responded to the market sounding exercise.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many proposals for rail investment other than for southern rail access to Heathrow were received in response to the Department for Transport’s call for market-led proposals, issued on 20 March 2018; what the names of such respondents were; and how many respondents have (1) contacted, and (2) been contacted by, the Department for Transport about those proposals since 13 December 2019.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Transport received a total of twenty-nine proposals to the call for market-led proposals, excluding those relating to southern rail access to Heathrow. Due to commercial confidentiality we are unable to provide details of the respondents. All respondents were contacted at the time of their proposals. The Department has provided assistance to sponsors to develop their proposals and remain available to all sponsors who responded to the call for ideas. Since 13 December 2019 we are aware of engagement with one proposer.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he is making on plans for the development of a southern rail access to Heathrow.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Southern Access to Heathrow (SAtH) would provide extensive benefits to the areas surrounding Heathrow and the South East of England, making getting to the airport quicker, easier and greener for millions of travellers in the boroughs surround the airport, across the south of England as well as creating regeneration opportunities and making Britain a more attractive place to invest and connect UK exporters to new international markets.
While a fast pace on SAtH is important, the scheme is very much in its infancy, and there is as yet much to be developed. It is crucial to the success of the project that time is taken in this early stage to ensure that the initial outcome based specification and commercial model on which the scheme will developed, are appropriate and the right solution to ensure value for money to the fare payer, the scheme proposer and the tax payer.
My Department continues to work closely with the market, including scheme promoters, operators and capital investors, along with the wider private sector and following Ministerial approval and alignment to the HM Treasury Infrastructure Finance Review; my Department intends to provide further guidance to the market regarding the commercial approach for SAtH early in 2021.
We also are continuing to work alongside Network Rail and Heathrow Airport Limited, to integrate with Western Rail Link to Heathrow, while ensuring alignment with other major infrastructure projects, to guarantee the most efficient design and delivery of SAtH.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to split up the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern rail franchise.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department continues to consider options for the future of the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) franchise. Transport for London (TfL) has submitted a Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for the devolution of the Great Northern Inner Suburban services. The Department has asked their officials to work with TfL to develop this proposal further. Any option proposed must be in the interests of all passengers and the tax-payer, aligning itself with the future plans of the TSGN network and industry reforms.
Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what revenue funding the Government provided from the public purse to (a) Thameslink, (b) c2c, (c) Southern, (d) Chiltern, (e) South Western Railway, (f) Greater Anglia, (g) Southeastern, (h) Gatwick Express and (i) London Northwestern Railway for (i) March, (ii) April and (iii) May 2020.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Government has approved £2.9billion of additional expenditure during the 2020/21 financial year to ensure that vital rail services continue to operate. This expenditure covers all train operators with franchise agreements with the Department for Transport. However, individual TOC payments have not yet been finalised for all of the above periods.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge and Malling)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many rail season ticket holders on the (a) Southeastern and (b) GTR Southern network have been unable to claim a refund for unused travel on their season tickets since his Department introduced the Emergency Measures Arrangements to support the rail sector.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The majority of rail season ticket holders (i.e. those with more than seven weeks remaining on their annual ticket) are able to claim a refund. Southeastern and GTR Southern introduced new processes to make claiming easier during COVID-19 travel restrictions, for example the ability for passengers to claim refunds remotely rather than returning their ticket to a ticket office. We have also allowed season ticket holders to backdate their claim to 17th March, when ‘do not travel’ advice was first introduced, and they now have up to 56 days to submit their claim.
The Department does not hold data on the number of season ticket holders who have been unable to claim a refund from Southeastern or GTR Southern since the introduction of the Emergency Measures Arrangements. This is because not all season ticket holders require a refund, as some still need to use their tickets to travel to work.