§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the number of trains operated by Virgin Rail classed as short trains. [52768]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonVirgin Trains is required by the franchise agreements for West Coast Trains and CrossCountry Trains to use all reasonable endeavours to provide sufficient capacity on each train that it operates. For certain services, notably peak service to and from London Euston and Birmingham New Street, there is a more detailed capacity requirement in the Passenger Service Requirement (PSR). The Office of Passenger Rail Franchising checks twice a year that Virgin plans to deliver sufficient capacity. It also monitors what actually happens on a four weekly basis. Failure to achieve 97.5 per cent. of the planned capacity in a four week period is a breach of the Franchise for the West Coast; the equivalent figure for the CrossCountry is 94 per cent. There was no breach of these limits in 1997–98. In addition, Virgin West Coast must pay a penalty for every train that is short of the planned number of seats. It paid a total of £167,907 to the Franchising Director in 1997–98.