John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions (a) he and (b) his officials have had with (i) the Mayor of London and (ii) Transport for London on (A) the relationship between the new London Rail Concession (LRC) and other national rail services in London and (B) the possible impact of the policy on open access on the LRC.
Mr. Tom Harris: Officials from the Department for Transport (DfT) have had discussions with Transport for London (TfL) regarding the LRC over the last two years. These discussions have covered a number of issues including the arrangements for transferring the franchising of these services from DfT to TfL.
Services operated by the LRC will continue to be part of the national rail network and will, therefore, have the same relationship with other national rail services (such as ticket purchasing ability and through fares) through the requirements of the passenger licence—although given planned extensions some changes will occur at specific locations.
The relationship between these services and open access operators is a matter for the ORR.
John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions the Strategic Rail Authority has had with bidders for the (a) Integrated Kent franchise and (b) South Western franchise on the impact of the policy of open access on (i) operation of the franchise and (ii) potential (A) subsidy from and (B) revenue to the Government over the course of the franchise.
Mr. Tom Harris: To date, the only open access operators in the areas served by the Integrated Kent franchise and the South Western franchise have been the operators of occasional special trains, and freight operators. Accordingly, open access was not specifically raised with bidders during the preparation of their bids for these two franchises.
John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the likely impact of the Office of Rail Regulation's policy on track access rights and open access on the franchise round for East Midlands, West Midlands and Cross Country services.
Mr. Tom Harris: The Office of Rail Regulation is currently engaged in a consultation exercise with potential open access operators, and with Network Rail, to establish whether the aspirations of those operators can be accommodated on the network alongside the services to be operated by the three new franchises.
At present, it is anticipated that the new franchisees will be able to obtain track access rights sufficient to enable them to fulfil the Service Level Commitments described in the Invitations to Tender.
ORR will grant rights to open access operators where the new services are primarily intended to create new journey opportunities rather than to abstract revenue from franchised operators.
John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) consulted (a) freight and passenger operators and (b) current or potential holders of track access rights on access to the route covered by the London Rail Concession being tendered by Transport for London (TfL); and what discussions his Department had with TfL and ORR on this issue.
Mr. Tom Harris: ORR is currently consulting freight and passenger operators and others it considers might be directly affected by the track access option application recently submitted by TfL and Network Rail in relation to access rights for the new East London Line.
No application has yet been received for additional access rights for that part of TfL’s concession that will take over the Silverlink Metro services. ORR will consult in accordance with its published policies on any such application that it receives.
The Department has not held any meetings with either TfL or ORR specifically on the issue of track access rights in relation to the London Rail Concession.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funds were (a) allocated and (b) spent by National Rail on enhancing the general cleanliness, facilities and services of small and medium-sized railway stations in each of the last four years; how many such projects Network Rail undertook in that period; and what representations he has made to Network Rail on this issue.
Mr. Tom Harris: These are operational matters for Network Rail, the owner and operator of the national rail network. The hon. Member is advised to contact Network Rail’s Chief Executive at the following address for a response to his questions:
John Armitt
Chief Executive
Network Rail
40 Melton Street
London
NW1 2EE
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of light railway are projected for completion in the next five years; and how many projects are involved.
Mr. Tom Harris: In the next five years, the following light rail projects are due for completion, subject to satisfying funding approvals:
Extension of the docklands light railway to Woolwich Arsenal—2.5 kms due to complete in 2009
Extension of the docklands light railway to Stratford International—6 kms due to complete in 2010
Extension of the Manchester Metro link to Chorlton and Droylsden—9 kms due to complete in 2011
A further extension of the Manchester Metro link to Rochdale—providing an additional 22.5 kms of light rail, is being taken forward with the Chorlton and Droylsden extensions and is due to complete in 2012.
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent passenger counts First Great Western have undertaken to south Wales services; and with what results.
Mr. Tom Harris: First Great Western has undertaken recent passenger counts for its own management purposes. This information is held by FGW. At the request of the Department for Transport, FGW carried out counts in July of the numbers of passengers on the FGW 1718 Swansea services on departure from Cardiff Central. These showed an average load of 179 passengers on this service.
This topic is continued in the link below.
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=813.msg2363#msg2363
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