Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the risk of covid-19 infection on the Southern Rail, West Midland Trains and Chiltern Railway services that operate in Harrow West constituency.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
To help tackle the spread of Covid-19, Southern Rail, West Midland Trains and Chiltern Railway, along with other rail operators and Network Rail are taking steps to keep our trains and stations clean. High-touch areas, such as hand rails and ticket machine screens on trains and at stations are being cleaned intensively, and staff are ensuring toilets are stocked with soap. We have also published health guidance for staff and the transport sector, in line with Public Health England protocols. As part of the Government’s programme of enhanced engagement, 2,500 digital and printed posters have been displayed at railway stations. The rail industry is making sure their staff remain abreast the latest health advice, and are promoting best practice to the travelling public at stations and online, through websites and apps.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of delayed and cancelled Southern rail services scheduled to depart Wallington station at (a) 07.32am and (b) 08.02am for London Bridge station since January 2019.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
I have not made an assessment of Southern rail services departing Wallington at this time. However, please note that, on the whole, since January 2019, we have recorded On Time figures of 71%, with cancellations recording 4.1%
The Department monitors each train operator’s overall performance against its performance benchmarks regularly and there are clear actions set out in the franchise agreement should performance drop below what is expected.
From February 2019 to February 2020 for Govia Thameslink Railway, the Moving Annual Average (MAA) Passenger Performance Measure (PPM), was 85.2%. This is a 3.1% improvement on the previous year.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Southern Rail’s performance in 2019.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
From February 2019 to February 2020 for Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), the operator of Southern services, the Moving Annual Average Passenger Performance Measure (PPM), which measures trains arriving at their destination within 5 minutes of their scheduled arrival time, was 85.2%. This is a 3.1 point improvement on the previous year. Southern is the best performing of GTR’s brands with a PPM figure of 86.1% for the most recent four-week period. There is still room for improvement and the Government is committed to investing around £48 billion in maintaining and upgrading the rail network in the period from 2019 to 2024, focused on increasing reliability and punctuality for passengers.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the punctuality of Southern Rail services (a) calling at and (b) departing from (i) Wallington, (ii) Hackbridge, (iii) Carshalton and (iv) Carshalton Beeches railway stations in 2019.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
For these stations, the annual averages for trains calling within one minute of the scheduled time are: 74.0% of services at Wallington, 70.0% of services at Hackbridge, 86.6% of services at Carshalton and 78.1% of services at Carshalton Beeches. The Department monitors each train operator’s overall performance against its performance benchmarks (cancellations, delay minutes and capacity) regularly and there are clear actions set out in the franchise agreement should performance drop below what is expected.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the passenger capacity of Southern Rail services (a) calling at and (b) departing from (i) Wallington, (ii) Hackbridge, (iii) Carshalton and (iv) Carshalton Beeches railway stations in 2019.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department monitors each train operator’s overall performance against its performance benchmarks, and this includes the capacity regime, which measures the number of short formations during the peaks. Govia Thameslink Railway is currently meeting the required levels. However should it fail to do so there are clear actions set out in the franchise agreement in order to remedy any underperformance.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to encourage Southern Rail to improve the (a) punctuality and (b) passenger capacity of services (i) calling at and (ii) departing from (A) Wallington, (B) Hackbridge, (C) Carshalton and (D) Carshalton Beeches railway stations.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department monitors each train operator’s overall performance against its performance benchmarks (cancellations, delay minutes and capacity) regularly and there are clear actions set out in the franchise agreement should performance drop below what is expected. The Department is committed to working with Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) in driving punctuality higher and, in partnership with Network Rail and other industry partners, GTR is focused on continuous improvement through the joint On Time Railway initiative.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timescales are for the progress of rail access projects to Heathrow Airport.
Answered by Grant Shapps - Secretary of State for Defence
Network Rail is finalising work on the Western Rail Link to Heathrow (WRLtH) Development Consent Order and will be prepared to submit to the Planning Inspectorate following the agreement of terms between the Government and the Heathrow Aviation industry on an appropriate financial contribution to the project. Network Rail has been advised to expect to submit the application for Development Consent no later than summer 2020, which will mark the next major milestone for the project.
On Southern Access to Heathrow (SAtH), my Department has been working to develop an appropriate ‘market involved’ commercial model. Following Ministerial approval and alignment to the upcoming HM Treasury Infrastructure Finance Review, the Department intends to provide further guidance regarding the commercial approach later this year.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with Heathrow Airport Ltd on surface access to the airport from Putney in the event that a third runway proceeds to development.
Answered by Grant Shapps - Secretary of State for Defence
As part of the surface access requirements in the draft Airports National Policy Statement, Government has specified that any applicant for development consent should set out the mitigation measures that it considers are required to minimise and mitigate the effect of expansion on existing surface access arrangements.
The Department is engaging with a range of stakeholders, including Heathrow Airport Ltd, about surface access to the airport. Following the publication in November 2019 of the potential strategic objectives for a new Southern Access to Heathrow scheme, the Department has been discussing with Heathrow how such a scheme could be taken forward and its future role. Subject to the scheme development, this has the potential to provide improved rail links from Putney and South West London to Heathrow Airport.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on reducing the price of off-peak Gatwick Express tickets between Brighton and London to the cost of a Southern ticket during the upgrade work to Gatwick airport railway station when Southern off-peak services from London Victoria will not run direct to or from Brighton; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
Network Rail is upgrading Gatwick Airport station to improve passenger experience and provide more reliable journeys for the 20 million passengers who travel to the airport by train every year. The industry is developing a passenger handling plan for the duration of the Gatwick Airport station improvement works. In addition to this, the government has taken action, alongside Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), to extend the Super Off-Peak and Kids for £2 Southern fare products to be eligible on Gatwick Express services from Brighton.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the total cost of the (a) road and (b) rail improvements required as a result of the expansion of Heathrow Airport.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Airports National Policy Statement sets out that it is for an applicant to demonstrate how it will improve surface access and mitigate the impacts of expansion at Heathrow. The expansion of Heathrow Airport will be fully funded and delivered by the private sector.
The proposed western rail link and southern access schemes to Heathrow are separate projects, which are subject to their own business cases. Where there are significant non-airport public user benefits from changes and enhancements to the infrastructure and services, the Government has made clear it would consider making a funding contribution to reflect these.