HC Deb 25 February 2002 vol 380 cc787-9W
Harry Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he sent Transport for London(a) detailed risk registers and (b) London Underground Ltd.'s Business Plan in connection with the financial risk of the public private partnership of the London Underground; and if he will make a statement. [34893]

Mr. Jamieson

The provision of information by London Underground Ltd. to Transport for London is a matter for those two organisations.

Matthew Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 7 November 2001,Official Report, column 289W, on London Underground, if he will place the letters of comfort which have subsequently been issued in the Library; on what date they were issued; and if he will make a statement. [37045]

Mr. Jamieson

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is considering issuing a comfort letter in relation to the tube modernisation contracts, but has not yet done so. Such a letter will only be issued after it has first been reported to Parliament.

Dr. Cable

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions in the plans for modernising London Underground, how many stations the Government will ensure are wheelchair accessible; and what increase that is on the present figure. [36729]

Mr. Jamieson

London Underground and the Government remain committed to improving accessibility of the underground and the modernisation plans will result in real improvements.

I understand from London Underground that 29 of their stations currently provide full step-free access (a further seven stations with step-free access are served by London Underground trains but not owned by London Underground). In addition, 16 stations provide partial step-free access, usually to one platform only. Five stations will gain full step-free access this year. The modernisation contracts specifically require a further 13 stations, where designs are sufficiently developed, to be made step-free. The contracts also provide for London Underground to take forward further schemes as designs are developed. London Underground plans to develop a network of around 100 stations with step-free access by 2020. Once London Underground has transferred to Transport for London, decisions on priorities will be for the Mayor and TfL.

Mr. Pickles

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many broken down escalators there were on London Underground stations in each of the last 10 years. [37574]

Mr. Spellar

This is an operational matter for London Underground who inform me that they track escalator performance through keeping records of the percentage of machines available for service. They believe that these figures give the best indication of service levels but, because they include the effects of planned works (overhauls and renewals) as well as faults, this means that in practice it would be virtually impossible to achieve 100 per cent. availability.

The figures are as follows:

London Underground escalator availability 1994–95 to 2000–01
Year Escalator availability (percentage)
1994–951 93.1
1995–96 92.7
1996–97 92.8
1997–98 93.3
1998–99 92.7
1999–2000 92.0
2000–01 91.4
1 Data for years prior to 1994–95 could be provided only at disproportionate cost

Escalator availability across the network fell in the last two years because cracks were detected in the top-shafts and steps of three types of escalator at various stages in 1999 and 2000. 52 escalators were affected by these faults, and all have now been repaired and are back in service. The completion of these works has had a notable impact on recent escalator performance—with performance comfortably above 93 per cent. since the beginning of 2001–02.

Mr. Pickles

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimate he has made of the(a) maintenance backlog at London Underground and (b) speed at which the maintenance backlog would be dealt with under a public-private partnership of the tube. [37228]

Mr. Spellar

I understand that in 1997 London Underground estimated that there was a backlog of £1.2 billion. The Government have provided sufficient funding to prevent any worsening of the backlog and to enable renewal and replacement of essential assets. It is only possible to eliminate the backlog through a stable, long-term investment programme, which the 30 year modernisation plans are designed to provide. The plans will eliminate the maintenance backlog and deliver increased capacity, improved reliability and higher quality as quickly as is possible without excessive disruption to current services.

Mr. Pickles

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the average number of trains in service was broken down by line on London Underground in each of the last 10 years. [37242]

Mr. Spellar

This is an operational matter for London Underground, who inform me that information is not available in the form requested, because they measure service reliability by total train kilometres operated, rather than the number of trains in service.

London Underground use this measure because the provision of a full schedule requires trains to enter and be withdrawn from service continuously and follow diverse journey patterns. Consequently, the number of trains operating on each line varies considerably by hour, as trains are put into or are withdrawn from service.