HC Deb 02 November 1998 vol 318 cc306-7W
Mr. Webb

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the average lateness of those Great Western trains which are categorised as late in the most recent statistics produced by OPRAF. [57078]

Ms Glenda Jackson

OPRAF's figures show what proportion of Great Western trains arrive at their final destination more than 9 minutes 59 seconds late. This is a general indicator of their overall performance, although we know that some services may be much later than this. Great Western is subject to an incentive regime which penalises it £250 if trains are 20 minutes late, £500 if 30 minutes late or partially cancelled (e.g. terminating short of final destination); and £1,000 if a service is cancelled entirely. Details of payments under this system appear in OPRAF's quarterly performance bulletins. It is not possible to provide performance data in more detail than in the Bulletin because of commercial confidentiality.

Mr. Jenkin

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will revise the framework for penalties on Railtrack for under-performance; and if he will make a statement. [57685]

Ms Glenda Jackson

The incentive regime which operates between train operators and Railtrack, and which gives Railtrack the incentive to provide effective and reliable infrastructure, is part of the track access contracts under which operators gain access to the infrastructure. The charges and penalties which apply under those contracts were set by the Rail Regulator in 1996 for a period of five years; they are being reviewed by him and new charges will be set from 2001.

Mr. Jenkin

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will estimate the(a) number and (b) percentage of train delays and cancellations due to (i) failures attributable to the train operating companies and (ii) failures attributable to Railtrack, for the last 12 months for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [57688]

Ms Glenda Jackson

The industry makes use of information relating to the attribution of responsibility for delays and cancellations between the operator of the service, other operators using the network, and Railtrack. This information is required to drive incentive payments regimes which operate between the parties, to incentivise each to avoid causing disruption and delay. It is commercially confidential.

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