TfW FOI Request - Crewe to Cardiff Service

Date issued: 13 August 2019

Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request of 6 August 2019. You requested the following information:

• how many trains on the day [Sunday 4 August] from Crewe to Cardiff were just 2 carriages

I can confirm that we hold the information requested.

On Sunday 4 August, Transport for Wales Rail Services ran 12 services between Crewe and Cardiff Central. Of these, six were formed of two coaches. Three of these were planned to run as two car services, and three were on the day short formations. The reason for these short formations was unplanned maintenance occurring on three-car 175 units.

The attached data provides more detailed information.

Of these services, our Control log indicates the following were full/standing:

1V17 [13:30 MANCR PIC-CARDIFCEN] 2 car 175 as booked.

1V18 [15:30 MANCR PIC-CARDIFCEN] 2 vice 3 car 175.

1V97 [16:30 MANCR PIC-CARDIFCEN] 2 car 175 as booked.

If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact Transport for Wales.

Yours sincerely

Transport for Wales

s22 Information intended for future publication

(1) Information is exempt information if -

(a) the information is held by the public authority with a view to its publication, by the authority or any other person, at some future date (whether determined or not),

(b) the information was already held with a view to such publication at the time when the request for information was made, and

(c) it is reasonable in all the circumstances that the information should be withheld from disclosure until the date referred to in paragraph (a).

(2) The duty to confirm or deny does not arise if, or to the extent that, compliance with section 1(1)(a) would involve the disclosure of any information (whether or not already recorded) which falls within subsection (1).

Factors for disclosure

- the general public interest in disclosure for the scrutiny and transparency of Transport for Wales decisions related to public procurement.

- the Welsh Minister’s promotion of the ideal that information should be made public rather than not, and that Welsh public authorities should be more transparent.

- disclosure of the information could help to allow the individual concerned, or the public as a whole, to understand the decision-making process of public authorities.

Factors against disclosure

- for Transport for Wales to be able to carry out its role effectively, its contractors such as Transport for Wales Rail Services must feel that they can disclose commercial information to Transport for Wales without risk that this information will be disclosed prematurely to the public or competitors.

- it is important that the Transport for Wales can consult with its contractors about the information before it is published. If contractors do not have confidence that Transport for Wales will protect information which is deemed commercially sensitive, they would be likely to be reticent to provide information that they are not obliged to, under the terms of the Grant Agreement with Welsh Ministers as managed by Transport for Wales.

- publishing the financial information for the first time on ORR’s website will allow everyone to see it at the same time and provide a clear and consistent approach.

- TfW staff time would be better spent compiling and verifying the information in readiness for publication as opposed to dealing with piecemeal requests and avoid misinterpretation and confusion.

Decision

The financial information you have requested is being withheld at this time as it is intended for future publication. On balance the public interest in withholding this information until formal publication outweighs that for disclosure now.