Railways (Hansard, 5 March 2004)

§ Linda Perham
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the need for high-speed rail services. [156083]

§ Mr. McNulty
The Strategic Rail Authority discussed the feasibility of a north-south high-speed line in its Strategic Plan 2003 as part of its long-term planning. But the priority is for the railway to concentrate on improving its current performance on the existing network.

§ Simon Hughes
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the most recent figures are for(a) reliability, (b) punctuality, (c) public performance measures and (d) complaints for each train operator operating services in Greater London in each of the last five years. [158659]

§ Mr. McNulty
The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) measures train performance by the Public Performance Measure (PPM) which combines reliability and punctuality. It is published by train operator in the SRA's quarterly National Rail Trends (NRT). The latest publication covers performance to the year ending 30 September 2003 and is placed in the Library of the House. The next edition, Quarter 3 2003–04, covering performance to 31 December 2003 will be published on 11 March.
Until March 2003, complaints data by train operator were published in the SRA's six monthly On Track publication. Copies of On Track are placed in the Library of the House. In future, complaints data by train operator will appear annually in Quarter 4 of NRT which will also act as an annual compendium of statistics. This will be published in the summer.

§ Mr. Cummings
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the re-opening of railway stations at(a) Easington, (b) Colliery and (c) Horden. [159317]

§ Mr. McNulty
There are no current plans to re-open these stations.

§ Mr. Webb
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether Network Rail has exemption from the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in respect of track maintenance work. [158909]

§ Dr. Howells
NR is bound by the provisions of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended). There is no specific exemption for Network Rail, but exceptions are provided which may sometimes be utilised by NR to maintain the safety and reliability of the railway.
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