§ Mr. ViggersTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many fatalities there were per million passenger miles on the railways in each of the last 10 years; what the projected costs of current plans to improve safety are; and what percentage increase in safety is planned to result from them. [3838]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe Health and Safety Executive's Railway Inspectorate, publish fatality and injury rates to passengers in their Annual Report on Railway Safety, copies of which are placed in both House Libraries. The information is compiled per billion passenger rail miles. Fatality rates per billion passengers miles for each of the last ten years are reproduced in the following table.
92WKey to table headings:
Fatality rate passengers—all railways 1990 to 1999–2000 Year Train incidents per billion passenger miles Movement incidents per billion passenger miles Non-movement incidents per billion passenger journeys 1990 0 1.43 1.29 1991–92 0.08 1.16 0.63 1992–93 0 0.68 1.29 1993–94 0 0.62 1.30 1994–95 0.14 0.55 1.26 1995–96 0.04 0.29 1.23 1996–97 0.04 0.48 1.79 1997–98 0.24 0.51 2.24 1998–99 0 0.56 1.60 1999–00 0.90 0.43 2.01
Train Incidents" include: collisions, derailments, trains running into obstructions, fires on board trains and missile damage to train windows;Movement Incidents" are injuries caused by the movement of the train excluding train incidents e.g. a passenger falling off a platform and struck by a train; andNon-movement Incidents" are injuries not caused by trains, e.g. A passenger slipping on the station platform.Figures for 2000–01 are still being compiled.
All aspects of railway industry activity have potential safety impacts. These safety impacts are not always separately identified in the business planning process. Therefore, the projected cost of current industry plans to improve safety cannot be estimated.
In the 1999–2000 Railway Group Safety Plan, the railway industry set itself a target to halve the annual number of accidental equivalent fatalities by 2009. (In calculating an 'equivalent fatality' 10 major injuries equate to one fatality and 200 minor injuries equate to one fatality.
§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what representations he has(a) made to and (b) received from Railtrack about the continued enforcement of speed restrictions; and when he estimates all restrictions will be lifted. [4649]
§ Mr. SpellarMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to the Railtrack chairman last month expressing concern about the continued enforcement of speed restrictions on the national rail network and pressing for a firm timetable for reducing further the number outstanding, without in any way compromising safety. Railtrack will respond substantively once it has reached agreement with the train operating companies on the best balance between early removal of the restrictions and additional disruption to services that the necessary engineering work might cause.
§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what representations he has(a) made to and (b) received from each of the train operating companies about the continued enforcement of speed restrictions; and if he will make a statement. [4650]
§ Mr. SpellarMinisters have met representatives of the train operating companies on several occasions and discussed, among other issues, the continued enforcement 93W of temporary speed restrictions, and the steps that Railtrack and the operators, working together, can take to minimise their impact.
§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will set out the timetable for completion of the inspection schedule used by Railtrack to assess track conditions; and if he will make a statement. [4651]
§ Mr. SpellarI will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Libraries of the House.