HC Deb 12 February 1997 vol 290 c179W
Mr. Chidgey

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many scheduled railway services were substituted by bus services during the week ended 18 January; for what reasons; and what penalty payments have been made by operators under their agreements with the franchising director. [15350]

Mr. Watts

The information is not available in the form requested. The Office of Passenger Rail Franchising monitors cancellations for franchised services. If an operator cancels more than a set threshold, that is a breach of the franchise agreement and enforcement action may follow. Some operators are also subject to a performance regime with Opraf and are penalised for each cancellation. Bus substitutions as a result of planned engineering work are not usually subject to penalty payments.