§ Sir Eldon GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish in theOfficial Report a list of the public service grants he has made to British Rail for the purpose of keeping open rail services between Ispwich and Cambridge over each of the past five years; whether those train services are meeting the performance targets and obligations laid down by his Department; if he will list those targets and obligations; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. McLoughlinPublic service obligation (PSO) grant is a block grant paid towards the cost of maintaining all supported services. In 1990–91 British Rail received £699.9 million in PSO grant.
The quality of service standards applicable to services of this type are that 90 per cent. of trains should arrive within five minutes of the scheduled time and no more than 1 per cent. of trains should be cancelled. Performance against these standards is not monitored by the Department on a line by line basis. However, for the Anglia sub-sector, of which the Ipswich-Cambridge route is part, 86.9 per cent. of trains arrived within five minutes of their scheduled time and 2 per cent. of trains were cancelled in the year to September 1991.