Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with First Great Western about reducing journey times between London Paddington and Swansea.

Mr. Tom Harris: There have been no discussions recently with First Great Western about reducing journey times between London Paddington and Swansea.

Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the performance of services on First Great Western Trains Ltd. to July 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Tom Harris: The performance of passenger train operators is measured by the Public Performance Measure (PPM). First Great Western’s PPM, expressed as a moving annual average, stood at 83.8 per cent. in July 2006. Improving rail performance is a key objective for the Department for Transport. Joint action plans are in place between Network Rail and First Great Western to address performance issues. These are monitored monthly.

Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the joint action plan between First Great Western and Network Rail for the monitoring of performance of services between London Paddington and Swansea.

Mr. Tom Harris: Improving rail performance is a key objective for the Department for Transport. Joint action plans are in place between Network Rail and First Great Western to address performance issues. These are monitored monthly.

Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps First Great Western is taking to ensure that services to Swansea (a) depart on time from London Paddington and (b) use reasonable endeavours to minimise the need for passengers to stand (i) on off-peak services and (ii) for no more than 20 minutes on peak services.

Mr. Tom Harris: First Great Western (FGW) participates with Network Rail in the Joint Performance Improvement Plan process and under its new franchise agreement has committed to a number of investments to improve performance. FGW monitors passenger numbers, including through on-board passenger counts.

Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cancellations occurred on First Great Western Services between Swansea and London Paddington between January to July 2006; and how many were the result of (a) vandalism, (b) locomotive failure, (c) adverse weather conditions, (d) electrical faults and (e) engineering works.

Mr. Tom Harris: The number of First Greater Western services reported as cancelled in between January to July 2006 was 2,518. This represents 0.8 per cent. of the services planned to run.

The Department does not hold data relating specifically to Swansea to London train services, nor relating to the reasons for each cancellation.

Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 11 July 2006, Official Report, column 1698W, on Arriva Trains Wales, what the outcome was of his Department’s discussions between interested parties about train services between Cardiff and Swansea.

Mr. Tom Harris: The Department for Transport is not convinced that it would be appropriate for it to fund additional train services between Cardiff and Swansea. It remains in discussion with interested parties.

Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps First Great Western is taking to ensure that initial newly refurbished Class 43 Mark III coaches begin service in November.

Mr. Tom Harris: The first newly refurbished First Great Western Class 43 High Speed Train power cars have already entered service.

The date for initial introduction of the first newly refurbished Mark III High Speed Train passenger coaches is a matter for First Great Western.

As well as "The Department for Transport is not convinced that it would be appropriate for it to fund additional train services between Cardiff and Swansea." , one of the most interesting quotes from the above is the following one :

"FGW monitors passenger numbers, including through on-board passenger counts."