Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member printed question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1383168

registered interest
date	29/11/2021
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Railways: Freight
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the proposed Ely area capacity enhancement project will make adequate provision for any increase in demand for freight train paths from East Coast ports to (1) the Midlands, and (2) the North of England.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradshaw
uin	HL4458
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/12/2021 answer text <p>The proposed Ely Area Capacity Enhancement programme is part of a wider route strategy to unlock additional freight paths to serve East Coast ports. It would provide capacity for long-term growth which would be realised in stages, as this programme and wider route investment is delivered. In the short-term Network Rail has temporarily increased the number of freight paths available from the Port of Felixstowe.</p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 13/12/2021 12:15:17 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	2483 label Biography information for Lord Bradshaw

1378688

registered interest
date	15/11/2021
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Railways: Freight
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 10 November (HL3612), what additional schemes they are establishing to support rail freight to counteract the shortage of HGV drivers.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradshaw
uin	HL3985
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/11/2021 answer text <p>Pursuant to the answer of 16/11/2021 to question HL3612 “To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken in the last six months to make it easier for railways to replace trips made by Heavy Goods Vehicles”: Government continues to work closely with Network Rail (NR) and the rail freight industry to maximise the sectors role in supporting resilient supply chains. The Government will continue to explore the potential to increase freight capacity and capability on the rail network and is supportive of modal shift of freight from road to rail wherever possible.</p><p> </p><p>We will continue to manage NR delivered rail enhancements, including freight schemes, within the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP).</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 22/11/2021 14:52:55 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	2483 label Biography information for Lord Bradshaw

1367756

registered interest
date	10/11/2021
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Railways: Freight
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken in the last six months to use trains to transport freight (1) to compensate for the shortage of HGV drivers, and (2) to reduce the emissions caused by HGVs.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradshaw
uin	HL3929
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2021 answer text <p>Pursuant to the answer of 16/11/2021 to question HL3612 “To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken in the last six months to make it easier for railways to replace trips made by Heavy Goods Vehicles”: Government continues to work closely with Network Rail (NR) and Freight Operating Companies (FOCs) to maximise rail freight’s role in supporting resilient supply chains. The Government has recently added £0.5 million more to the existing £20 million Mode Shift Revenue Support (MSRS) grant scheme for 2021/22. This will reduce the total number of HGV journeys by an additional 29,000.</p><p>The Government recently published the Transport Decarbonisation Plan (TDP) – the first such plan in the world – which sets out our plans to deliver a Net Zero transport system by 2050. The TDP has clearly outlined the Government’s support for the growth of the rail freight sector as well as modal shift of freight from road to rail. In addition, we are committed to introducing a rail freight growth target, but this should not become a ceiling. Through the 2021 First of a Kind competition, we are funding an ongoing project which is focusing on providing better and more accurate location information to make the transition of freight between modes more efficient at terminals.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 17/11/2021 13:09:43 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	2483 label Biography information for Lord Bradshaw

1365291

registered interest
date	02/11/2021
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Railways: Freight
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken in the last six months to make it easier for railways to replace trips made by Heavy Goods Vehicles.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradshaw
uin	HL3612
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/11/2021 answer text <p>Government remains committed to unlocking the benefits rail freight can deliver, including its role in supporting resilient supply chains. Working alongside Network Rail (NR) and Freight Operating Companies (FOCs), we have taken several urgent steps to increase rail freight capacity to help reduce pressure on HGV driver shortages over the last six months.</p><p> </p><p>NR has recently increased the number of train paths available from Felixstowe Port by addressing level crossing risks and made additional paths available from Liverpool Port and London Gateway. NR and FOCs are currently running longer and heavier freight trains, and we are exploring with them whether there is scope to increase this to ensure that capacity is maximised, as well as increase the flow of rail freight on key routes from major ports. Work remains ongoing to secure further opportunities for this.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, the £8.3 million upgrade of the ‘Bootle Branch’ railway line serving the Port of Liverpool was completed in September 2021. The 400-metre section of track will allow for an increase from one, to two trains, per hour in each direction.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 10/11/2021 12:18:56 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	2483 label Biography information for Lord Bradshaw

1330203

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Railways: Freight
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the announcement that DP World will operate 775-metre long freight trains between Southampton and London Gateway, whether they have asked Network Rail to make similar adjustments elsewhere in the interests of higher productivity.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradshaw
uin	HL721
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2021 answer text <p>The Government supports increasing the productivity of the rail freight sector, including by investing in infrastructure enhancements to enable Freight Operating Companies to run longer trains, to enhance rail freight’s competitiveness and in turn lead to modal shift of freight from road to rail, delivering significant environmental and economic benefits.</p><p> </p><p>Between 2014-2019 the Government invested over £235 million in the Strategic Freight Network and continues to make investments, to improve its capability and capacity for freight users, including facilitating longer freight trains. In addition to the longer services operating from the Port of Southampton, as a result of the recently completed Southampton Freight Train Lengthening project, the Department has also funded several infrastructure enhancements which have enabled other longer services to operate. These include upgrading the Ipswich Railway Chords (Bacon Factory Curve) to allow 700m length freight trains to run to and from the Port of Felixstowe and the extension of the Darlington sidings, which concluded in December 2020, to allow longer intermodal freight trains to operate from Teesport to access the East Coast Mainline.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Network Rail (NR) has worked alongside the rail freight industry, with the support of the Department, to allow longer and heavier trains to run on the network whilst the number of passenger services has been lower. As a result of the reduced passenger timetable, NR implemented a number of timetable alterations to allow, for example, 775m trains to run between Southampton and Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester, and between Daventry and Grangemouth. NR is actively looking at opportunities to continue scheduling such services and to further opportunities to run longer trains, to continue driving higher efficiency and productivity for the Freight Operating Companies and their customers.</p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 21/06/2021 15:48:25 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	2483 label Biography information for Lord Bradshaw

1176591

registered interest
date	05/02/2020
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Railways: Freight
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 3 February (HL551), whether the Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline takes into account the Government's net carbon emissions target for 2050 and its effects on heavy road haulage.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradshaw
uin	HL1349
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/02/2020 answer text <p>This year we will publish a Transport Decarbonisation Plan, which will set out a credible and ambitious plan to ensure transport, including rail, delivers its contribution to net zero. The Government takes account of such wider strategies when upgrade schemes are appraised through the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 18/02/2020 16:36:04 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	2483 label Biography information for Lord Bradshaw

1176593

registered interest
date	05/02/2020
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Railways: Freight
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Earl of Courtown on 3 February (HL547) and in the light of their target of zero net emissions by 2050, whether they plan to cease the practice of counting the loss of fuel duty, including VAT, as a disbenefit to the transfer of heavy freight from road haulage to an electric railway.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradshaw
uin	HL1350
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/02/2020 answer text <p>When assessing the impact of transferring road freight to rail, the differences in both costs and benefits are calculated to provide the full picture of the net impact. The appraisal framework in the Department considers the emissions savings that would result from switching transport types, taking into account the relative emissions efficiency from each form of transport mode. The Department’s appraisal framework is continually kept under review to keep up to date with latest approaches to valuing environmental benefits, as well as improvements in technology.</p><p> </p><p>DfT is embarking, through the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, on the biggest piece of work it has ever done on decarbonising transport. It will be working openly in 2020 to produce a Plan that puts transport on a path to delivering its contributions to carbon budgets and net zero.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 19/02/2020 14:33:15 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	2483 label Biography information for Lord Bradshaw

1175142

registered interest
date	20/01/2020
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Railways: Freight
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	Her Majesty's Government whether current forecasts for rail freight potential take account of the need to reduce heavy lorry mileage by 2050.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradshaw
uin	HL549
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/02/2020 answer text <p>The rail freight forecasts do not explicitly consider the need to reduce heavy lorry mileage.</p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 03/02/2020 17:44:42 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	2483 label Biography information for Lord Bradshaw

1175143

registered interest
date	20/01/2020
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Railways: Freight
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic and environmental benefits of an electrified rail-freight network between (1) major ports and inland terminals, and (2) major quarries and city centre terminals, in order to reduce (a) pollution and congestion on the trunk road network, and (b) mileage by heavy lorries.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradshaw
uin	HL550
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/02/2020 answer text <p>The Government is committed to reducing air pollution created by transport and more broadly, ensuring the railway plays its part in delivering our ambition of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. We will continue to explore potential options, including electrification, as well as using other low emitting fuels.</p><p> </p><p>The Government will develop a multi-modal freight strategy, to include a response to the National Infrastructure Commission’s report ‘Better Delivery: The Challenge for Freight’. This strategy will be developed alongside the Department’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan to cover the decarbonisation of freight across all transport modes</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 03/02/2020 17:51:37 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	2483 label Biography information for Lord Bradshaw

1175144

registered interest
date	20/01/2020
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Railways: Freight
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the (1) current, and (2) future, haulage capacity of freight locomotives; and whether they include any such estimate in plans for the future development of the rail network.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradshaw
uin	HL551
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/02/2020 answer text <p>Haulage capacity of freight locomotives are a matter for Freight Operating Companies (FOCs). FOCs are private sector companies and receive no state funding for the procurement of rolling stock. However, the July 2019 report by the Rail Industry Decarbonisation Taskforce and RSSB – “Final Report to the Minister for Rail” - estimate that there are currently around 850 freight locomotives in regular service, moving around 19 billion net tonne kilometres of freight per year (2016-2017).</p><p /><p>Network Rail published a rail freight forecast for 2033/34 and 43/44 in July 2019. This study analysed the existing haulage capacity of freight locomotives. In addition, one scenario considered the impacts of an increase of 2.2m square metres of warehousing capacity and a 5% increase in train length by 2033/34. These scenarios and forecasts are used when appraising freight infrastructure upgrades through the Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline (RNEP).</p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 03/02/2020 17:41:40 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	2483 label Biography information for Lord Bradshaw