§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what research his Department has(a) carried out, (b) commissioned and (c) consulted upon into future rail passenger demand (i) for Great Britain as a whole, (ii) between different train operating companies, (iii) in relation to temporal variations and (iv) according to geographical variations; if he will place copies of published research reports in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [23143]
§ Mr. JamiesonMy Department developed a model of future rail passenger demand for Great Britain to inform the development of the 10-Year Plan and the last Spending Review. Details of the model and its results are reported in 'The Background Analysis' paper of 'Transport 2010: The 10-Year Plan', copies of which were placed in the Library in July 2000.
My Department commissioned research into future rail passenger demand on Eurostar. These forecasts were used to inform commercial negotiations undertaken earlier this year with Railtrack Group plc and London and Continental Railways concerning section 2 of the channel tunnel rail link. There is no published research report.
My Department has commissioned research to develop a model of rail passenger demand. This will be a component of the Department's national transport model to be used to inform decisions taken in the current spending review. The model will consider Great Britain as a whole, temporal variations in so far as they affect crowding in the peak period, and broad geographical corridors. There is no published research report.
My Department receives advice from the Strategic Rail Authority in relation to passenger rail franchises. When awarding new franchises the SRA makes assessments of bidders' passenger forecasts.