HC Deb 19 December 2001 vol 377 cc514-5W
Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps have been taken by(a) his Department and (b) the Strategic Rail Authority to monitor the performance of the public timetable information service provided by Railtrack by (i) telephone and (ii) the internet; and if he will make a statement. [23193]

Mr. Jamieson

The National Rail Enquiry Service (NRES) is provided collectively by the train operating companies, not Railtrack. The Strategic Rail Authority monitor call handling performance. No less than 90 per cent, of calls must be answered in any one four-week period, and 92.5 per cent, of calls must be answered in the year to 31 March 2002. NRES is currently meeting these targets. Qualitative performance is monitored by independent researchers every six months through mystery shopping surveys. There are no requirement on train operators or Railtrack to provide an internet based system. Where they do so it is done as a commercial initiative and is not subject to performance monitoring.

Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions by what process the national rail timetable is created; what steps his Department(a) has taken and (b) plans to take to modify the process by which the national rail travel timetable is created; and if he will make a statement. [23146]

Mr. Jamieson

Railtrack convene an annual timetable conference at which train operators submit their aspirations for the following years' timetables (summer and winter). Following the conference Railtrack work with each company to produce a draft timetable offer, taking into account the comments of local authorities and Rail Passengers Committees. Each company then has a short period to review the offer and re-bid for any changes that they may wish to see made. Once this re-bidding is completed Railtrack will produce a final version of the timetable, normally 12 weeks before the date of the timetable change. There are no plans to change this process.

Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what(a) representations his Department has received from and (b) discussions his Department has had with (i) train operating companies,(ii)Railtrack,(iii)the Rail Passenger Council, (iv) rail passenger committees, (v) the Strategic Rail Authority and (vi) others on the process by which the national rail travel timetable is created; and if he will make a statement. [23147]

Mr. Jamieson

Ministers have received no representations on this issue, but discussed it with train operators, Railtrack, the Strategic Rail Authority and the Rail Passenger Council in the context of broader considerations about making the best use of the railway network.

Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the monthly performance figures are for the Railtrack public timetable information service since it became operational according to the criteria for performance as defined by(a) his Department and (b) the Strategic Rail Authority. [23194]

Mr. Jamieson

Statistics on the performance of the National Rail Enquiry Scheme (operated by the Association of Train Operating Companies) are contained in National Rail Trends, which is published quarterly by the Strategic Rail Authority, most recently on 13 December. A copy is placed in the Library of the House.