§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what benchmarks and baseline periods he will use to assess the performance of the rail network in the next five years. [45351]
§ Mr. JamiesonWe published on 18 February a quarterly set of key indicators against which progress on improving the railways could be measured. They are intended to provide a benchmark for future reference. The baseline period is April-June 2001. The indicators focus on the issues that matter most to passengers: punctuality, reliability, safety and quality. The first quarterly update was published on 18 March. The next will be published on 6 June.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions for what reason the total length of the electrified rail network has fallen since 1997. [45350]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe reduction referred to represents a very small proportion of total network length, about 0.2 per cent., and is an operational matter for Railtrack. I am not aware that it is attributable to a single factor.
§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent discussions he has had with(a) the Strategic Rail Authority, (b) the Association of Train Operating Companies, (c) train operating companies, (d) the Rail Passenger Committee and (e) other passenger representatives regarding (i) rail fares and fare regulation and (ii) Network railcards. [45416]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe SRA is conducting a review of fares policy and will report to Ministers. The Association of Train Operating Companies has met with Ministers to explain their proposals for the SouthEast Network Card.
§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what targets he has set for his rail performance measures to be met by March 2005. [45418]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe Government's 10 Year Transport Plan sets out clear targets for Rail focusing on increasing the number of passengers and volume of freight using the railways, and on tackling overcrowding. We do not intend to introduce yet further targets, but rather to have a set of benchmarks against which progress and improvements can be judged.
§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what changes have taken place in the last five years to railway discount cards; what changes are planned; and if he will make a statement. [45417]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) requires franchised train operators to continue to offer the Young Person's, Disabled Person's and Senior Citizen's railcards on the same terms as applied before privatisation. Train operators also operate commercial railcard schemes such as the Network Railcard (for travel in the South East) and the Family Railcard, whose terms are a matter for the train operators, and which are not subject to regulation by the SRA.
954W
§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many staff are employed in each key area of the railway industry; what the total requirement for staff in each key area is; what assessment he has made of staff shortage numbers in each key area; how many individuals are(a) in training and (b) trained for each key area; and how many individuals have (i) retired and (ii) left employment in each key area since 1995. [45500]
§ Mr. JamiesonInformation from the Railway Industry Training Council indicates that approximately 140,000 people are employed in rail related work. The most recent information available indicates that in 2001 approximately 1,200 vacancies were reported as hard to fill. It is estimated that 5,500 people were in training for employment in the industry in 2001. No information is held centrally on numbers of people leaving the industry.
§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 15 March 2002,Official Report, column 1271W, on rail summit targets, what issues arising from the National Rail Summits are not being taken forward through the SRA Strategic Plan. [45670]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe broad thrust of the Rail Summits—improving both the rail network and its performance—is the fundamental goal of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) and its Strategic Plan. That improvement will only come, as the Plan has made clear, through action to stabilise the industry and get back to basics now and through significant investment in renewal and enhancement of the network, in order to provide increased capacity for passenger and freight services. The SRA is currently engaged in delivering both of these.