HC Deb 27 April 2001 vol 367 cc423-5W
Mr. Jenkin

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many suicides and attempted suicides there were on London Underground property in each of last 10 years and in each of the past 12 months. [157470]

Mr. Hill

[holding answer 9 April 2001]London Underground emphasise that safety and security are their top priorities, and they do everything possible to prevent suicide attempts. They have provided the following

Percentage
Lines 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01
Bakerloo 91.4 93.6 92.5 90.5 83.0
Central (inc. Waterloo and City) 95.3 95.2 95.3 96.6 97.0
Circle and Hammersmith 90.9 93.0 91.4 89.7 81.6
District 96.0 98.3 97.4 97.0 93.0
Jubilee 96.4 98.0 97.5 92.7 89.8
East London 97.3 97.3 92.7 95.7 94.5
Metropolitan 95.9 98.0 97.5 96.7 95.4
Northern 94.4 95.5 90.2 94.9 96.6
Piccadilly 93.5 92.9 89.5 90.9 86.9
Victoria 95.0 95.1 96.1 97.4 96.1
Total 94.5 95.5 93.6 94.3 91.9
information on all incidents where, after full examination of the incident, they have recorded suicide or attempted suicide as a cause.

Total
1996–97 45
1997–98 52
1998–99 48
1999–2000 52
2000–01 47

2000–01 total
April 2000 1
May 2000 7
June 2000 4
July 2000 4
August 2000 0
September 2000 4
October 2000 5
November 2000 3
December 2000 3
January 2001 4
February 2001 7
March 2001 5

Figures for years before 1996–97 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. It should be noted that Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate separately publish figures in the HMRI Annual Report on Railway Safety, which include totals of suicides and attempted suicides on London Underground. However, those figures are lower because they are based on statutory returns from Coroners made under the Coroners Act 1988. The LUL figures are based on LUL's subsequent investigation into each fatality.

Mr. Jenkin

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate has been made of the average punctuality and reliability of services on each of the London Underground lines in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [157480]

Mr. Hill

[holding answer 9 April 2001]This is an operational matter for London Underground who inform me that although they do not keep statistics on punctuality of services, they do keep information on train service reliability in terms of the percentage of scheduled kilometres operated. The table shows the percentage of scheduled kilometres operated for each of the Underground lines over the last five years.

In 2000–01 the reliability figure of 91.9 per cent. shown in the table for the year to February reflects the demands of a substantial increase in kilometres operated, and continuing strong growth in passenger demand. LUL's performance was measured against an original target of operating 67.3 million train kilometres in the year (an increase of 4.2 million on 1999–2000 performance). Although this was not attained, the underlying figures for actual train kilometres delivered during 2000–01 and earlier years have been on an increasing trend, as follows:

Train kilometres operated (million)
1996–97 58.6
1997–98 62.1
1998–99 61.2
1999–2000 63.1
2000–01 164.1
1 Current estimate