To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the One Railway has paid to the Exchequer since it obtained the East Coast franchise. (103062)

Details of payments and premiums from all franchised train operators are set out in National Rail Trends, copies of which are in the Library of the House. Premium payments from London Eastern Railway (One) are stated as £45 million in 2004-05 and £55.6 million in 2005-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many companies bid for the East Coast franchise. (103063)

Four bids were received for the current East Coast franchise.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether One Railway's refurbishments to rolling stock have been in line with the conditions set out in the franchise. (103065)

“One” rolling stock refurbishments are being delivered in line with the franchise commitments contained in the franchise agreement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether penalties can be imposed on One Railway for (a) specific breaches of its franchise contract and (b) low overall performance levels; (103067)

There is no specific obligation within the ‘One’ Franchise Agreement to allow penalties to be imposed. However, an enforcement notice may be served requiring a remedial plan, notifying the steps that will be taken to secure or facilitate compliance, to be provided.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on how many occasions One Railway has failed to fulfil its levels of service as set out in the franchise contract. (103069)

‘One’ has failed to meet a service benchmark on 17 occasions since June 2005. This relates to the number of cancelled services. As required by the Franchising Agreement, ‘One’ put together a corrective plan of actions that has been the subject of a number of discussions with my officials to monitor progress.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what capacity arrangements were included in the new franchise agreement with South West Trains for the provision of (a) toilets and (b) seats; whether restrictions were imposed on the extent to which the capacity of these services could be reduced; and if he will make a statement. (103085)

A programme of rolling stock modification is already under way as part of the existing South West Trains franchise. It includes the removal of some seats from some trains to provide more standing room.

The invitation to tender for the new franchise asked bidders to provide details of how they intended to cope with further growth in passenger numbers. The successful bid submitted by Stagecoach South Western (SSW) included incentives for passengers to travel outside peak periods and further rolling stock modifications to cater for those unable to do so. Discussions between SSW and the rolling stock owners are continuing.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the financial stability of rail franchises. (104506)

The deliverability of Franchise proposals is assessed at contract award. The financial position of franchises is kept under review throughout the contract.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent on the National Train Passenger Survey in each year since 1997-98; and what funding is planned for the next three financial years. (102653)

The National Passenger Survey was set up in 1999. The following table outlines how much has been spent on the survey in each financial year since then, inclusive of VAT.

Future funding for the survey has been agreed up to spring 2007. Work is currently out to tender so we are unable to provide any information on likely costs for the period after March 2007. Annual spend for the year 2006-07 is estimated at £719,800 inclusive of VAT.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) passengers in excess of capacity and (b) total passengers there were (i) for each London commuting service train operator and (ii) in total at the (A) a.m. and (B) p.m. peak in the latest period for which figures are available; and how many passengers into London there were during (1) a.m. peak periods, (2) p.m. peak periods and (3) in total for each London commuting service train operator during that period. (102658)

Statistics on total passenger journeys and passenger in excess of capacity (PiXC) are published by the Office of Rail Regulation in National Rail Trends a copy of which is in the House Library. The 2005-06 Yearbook edition covers percentage of passengers in excess of capacity on all London train operators broken down into a.m. peak, p.m. peak and in total. Total passenger journeys figures are available by train operating companies; we do not have passenger journeys figures in the requested format.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which five train services serving London had the highest number of passengers in excess of capacity levels in the most recent survey of Passengers In Excess Of Capacity (PIXC); and what the (a) passenger capacity, (b) passenger load, (c) PIXC and (d) percentage load factor was in each case. (102746)

This information has already been provided in a response by the Department for Transport to a Freedom of Information request, which was posted on the Department's website on 20 March 2006.

For ease of reference, the link to the Department for Transport's website is reproduced as follows:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_foi/documents/divisionhomepage/611373.hcsp

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the removal of buffet bar mark III coaches on First Great Western services; and what assessment he has made of the partial implications for comfort during long distance travel. (104140)

The level and type of on-train catering is a matter for train operators’ commercial judgment rather than for the Department for Transport to determine.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the minimum train service requirement to (a) Bristol and (b) the West Country is under the Greater Western Franchise; and what changes in service levels there have been since the previous franchise. (104144)

The Service Level Commitment 2 (‘SLC2’) for the First Great Western franchise is available in the House of Commons Library. The Passenger Service Requirements of the former First Great Western and Wessex Trains franchises are also available in the House of Commons Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what maximum journey times the Greater Western franchise agreement standards includes for services between London Paddington to Swansea; what the average length of journey time is on this route; and what that length of time was during the last two years of operation by British Rail. (104148)

The Service Level Commitment 2 (‘SLC2’) for the First Great Western franchise is available in the House of Commons Library.

The average through journey times between London Paddington to Swansea are as follows: