§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 23 January 2002,Official Report, 201W column 871W, what is the (a) current and (b) expected capacity of the (i) London to Southampton and London to Portsmouth and (ii) Bristol to Portsmouth railway lines; by when the expected capacity will be achieved; and if he will ensure that new franchise arrangements for Island Line provide for effective connections with the London to Portsmouth line, even when its services run late. [31089]
§ Mr. Jamieson[holding answer 28 January 2002]: There is no simple measure of capacity on the network. The part of the network used by the South West Trains franchise is congested in a few particular areas, especially where lines converge in the approaches to London. Under the proposed new franchise agreement Stagecoach plan a revision of the timetable to permit an increase in the number of trains into Waterloo from September 2003. Some new trains have already been introduced by SWT, providing additional capacity, and a further tranche are due to enter service at the end of 2002. In the longer term work to lengthen platforms will allow longer trains to operate on the Southampton and Portsmouth routes.
The SRA are developing a franchise proposition for the replacement of the Island Line franchise. The authority are well aware of the importance of connections between trains, ferries and buses.