HC Deb 26 June 2002 vol 387 cc879-80W
Mr. George Howarth

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has(a) commissioned and (b) published on the respective costs and benefits of tram and light rail schemes compared to schemes to promote greater bus use. [62805]

Mr. Jamieson

My Department has commissioned a number of research projects which have looked at the impacts of particular light rail and bus schemes, but have not sought to compare alternatives. There are many published studies which seek to compare the respective cost and benefits of the two modes. These include 'Bus or light rail: making the right choice' (Environmental and Transport Planning, 2000), for which my Department was among the funders.

Mr. George Howarth

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average public subsidy per journey is for(a) tram and light rail schemes, (b) bus routes and (c) underground railway schemes. [62810]

Mr. Jamieson

Relevant statistics are published in "Transport Statistics Bulletin", from which the following are extracts:

Local bus services, Great Britain, 2000–01

  1. A. Concessionary fare reimbursement—£468 million
  2. B. Fuel duty rebate—£362 million
  3. C. Total subsidy (A+B)—£830 million
  4. D. Number of passenger journeys—4,309 million
  5. E. Subsidy per passenger journey (C/A)—£0.19.

In addition, public transport support of £386 million was paid by local authorities mainly to support local bus services which were socially necessary but were not commercially viable. This includes Rural Bus Subsidy grant, Rural Bus Challenge, payments to operators, professional and technical services, and Pension Increase Act costs.

For tram and light rail schemes and Glasgow Underground, the only public subsidy is concessionary fare reimbursement, the figures for which cannot be disaggregated from those for ferries. The combined figures for this expenditure are in Table 21 of "Transport Statistics Bulletin".

For London Underground, concessionary fare reimbursement was £26 million in 2000–01, and passenger journeys 970 million, giving a figure per journey of 3p.