§ Tom BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) what safety improvements have been suggested by Railtrack and the Highways Agency following the incidences of vehicles on the track at(a) Selby on 28 February, (b) Bletchley in Buckinghamshire on 24 August and (c) Wilsford in Lincolnshire on 30 August; what action has been taken as a result; and if he will make a statement on the funding of the improvements; [10904]
(2) what arrangements exist between Railtrack and the Highways Agency to co-ordinate provisions to prevent road vehicles getting on to railway tracks; [10910]
(3) if the vulnerability of the sites of the incidences of vehicles on the track at (a) Selby on 28 February, (b) Bletchley in Buckinghamshire on 24 August and (c) Wilsford in Lincolnshire on 30 August (i) had been identified by Railtrack prior to the accident and (ii) had been subjected to a risk assessment; [10905]
(4) how (a) the Highways Agency and (b) Railtrack establish the vulnerability of locations from which vehicles might accidentally gain access to railway tracks; [10903]
(5) if the vulnerability of the sites of the incidences of vehicles on the track at (a) Selby on 28 February, (b) Bletchley in Buckinghamshire on 24 August and (c) Wilsford in Lincolnshire on 30 August (i) had been identified by the Highways Agency prior to the accident and (ii) had been subjected to a risk assessment; [10906]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe assessment of roads is an operational matter for the relevant highway authority, in consultation with the relevant rail authorities if a road crosses a railway.
The Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions is the highway authority for the site at Great Heck, near Selby, where a vehicle left the road on 28 February 2001. I can confirm that the barrier provision at this site met all the relevant standards. On Monday 12 March this year the then Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Local Government and the Regions, my hon. Friend the Member for Streatham (Keith Hill), announced in a PQ that the Deputy Prime Minister had asked the Highways Agency to review its standards for nearside safety barriers. He also announced that the DPM has asked the Health and Safety Commission to convene a working group that will look at the circumstances of incidents where vehicles have blocked rail lines and whether there are features in common that might have been prevented. When I have the reports from the Highways Agency and from the Health and Safety Commission, I will be able to consider what action needs to be taken by those responsible for the road and the rail infrastructure.