HC Deb 12 April 1989 vol 150 cc568-9W
Mr. Evennett

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received concerning the safety implications of installing automatic ticket barriers on the London Underground; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Portillo

In addition to three early-day motions, about 30 representations have been received from members of Parliament and members of the public since 1 January.

Mr. Evennett

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has concerning the failure rate of those automatic ticket barriers which have been installed on the London Underground; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Portillo

I understand from London Underground Ltd. that, on average, gates fail once for every 79,000 passengers using them. This represents approximately 16 single gate failures per day, each of which takes between 10 and 15 minutes for a fitter to rectify.

Ms. Ruddock

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he is aware of any circumstances in which, in the event of a power failure, any of the new automatic ticket gates in London Underground stations would remain closed; and if he will make a statement;

(2) if London Underground Ltd. has informed him of any occasion on which difficulties occurring in the new automatic ticket gates at King's Cross station on the day of their official inauguration, 27 February, which would lead him to reconsider his assurances that in the event of a power failure, all the gates would open automatically;

(3) if London Underground Ltd has informed him of any occasion on which an actual or simulated power failure has resulted in any of the new automatic ticket gates in London Underground stations remaining closed.

Mr. Portillo

As I told the hon. Lady in my letter of 4 April 1989, London Underground Ltd. (LUL) told me recently that in certain most unlikely circumstances failure of a single phase in the power supply would mean that not all the ticket gates would open automatically. It has assured me that, should such a failure occur, staff have been instructed to open all gates immediately by using the emergency opening arrangements which are unaffected by single-phase power failures. LUL is rectifying this problem by a programme of modification which will be complete within three months.

I can add that the problem was first identified at King's Cross.