Length of bus, ferry, rail routes (FOI231153)

This Freedom of Information request asks for information on the length of reserved bus, ferry, rail routes within Tyne and Wear Metropolitan County

Request for information - Ref no: FOI231153

September 11, 2023

Information request

Thank you for your email of 24/05/2023 requesting information from Ordnance Survey in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000, and your additional email of 07/06/2023, clarifying your request, as set out in the extracts below:

Original request 24 May 2023

"I am sending this email to request information or data on the Length of Reserved bus, ferry, rail routes (lanes that are set aside or can only be used by these modes) within the Tyne and Wear Metropolitan County; the requested data must be for the year(s) 2015/2016.”

Clarification email of 7 June 2023

"Concerning the bus route length, is there an indication or idea of where I can obtain the data?"

Our response

Original request 24 May 2023

Thank you for your email of 24/05/2023, which is being considered by Ordnance Survey in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.

We acknowledge your information request to be:

From our preliminary assessment, we will not be able to answer your request for information without further clarification. Where you refer to ‘lanes set aside for ferries or rail’, we are unclear as to what you mean and how this would be represented. A rail line can only be used as a rail line, nothing else, and ferries run on water, there would not be a ‘lane’ part of these ‘set aside’, as opposed to bus lanes, which are set aside on a road. If you are able to provide further clarification on this, that would be helpful, to ensure that we understand exactly what information you require.

However, under section 16 of the FOIA, in accordance with our duty to provide advice and assistance, we can provide you with the following, which we consider to be the information you are requesting:

Bus lanes

We are unable to provide you with any information on the length of bus lanes since we do not hold this data.

Rail lines

Rail lines are available in OS OpenMap Local or OS VectorMap District, both of which are open data and free to download on our website by signing up to the OS DataHub. Rail lines are shown in image 1 in the attached document (PDF) for the area you request (area of interest shown yellow on image 1) and go back as far as 2010 in the case of OS VectorMap District:

You should be able to establish the length of the rail lines using this free OS data, if you require support with using OS data please contact us, using the ‘contact us’ details set out under ‘using OS data’ on our website since they will be better suited to provide this support.

Ferry lines

Ferry lines are available in OS MasterMap Highways, this is a Premium Product, which requires payment. However, we have checked OS MasterMap Highways for you, and I can confirm that there are no ferry lines (red lines on image 2 in the attached document (PDF)) in the area of interest (shown yellow on image 2), therefore we do not hold this information.

If the information provided above does not suitably deal with your request, please provide the clarification as requested above so we can establish exactly the information you are requesting.

Clarification email of 7 June 2023

Thank you for your email of 7 June 2023.

We suggest that you contact the relevant Local Authorities for bus lane data, which would be the following:

North Tyneside
Newcastle Upon Tyne
South Tyneside
Gateshead
Sunderland

Next steps

Internal review

Your enquiry has been processed according to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000. If you are unhappy with our response, you may request an internal review with our Internal Review Officer by contacting them, within two months of receipt of our final response to your Freedom of Information (FOI) request, as follows:

Internal Review Officer
Customer Service Centre
Ordnance Survey
Adanac Drive
Southampton
SO16 0AS

Please include the reference number above. You may request an internal review where you believe Ordnance Survey has:

Failed to respond to your request within the time limits (normally 20 working days)
Failed to tell you whether or not we hold the information
Failed to provide the information you have requested
Failed to explain the reasons for refusing a request
Failed to correctly apply an exemption or exception

The Internal Review Officer will not have been involved in the original decision. They will conduct an independent internal review and will inform you of the outcome of the review normally within 20 working days, but exceptionally within 40 working days, in line with the Information Commissioner’s guidance.

The Internal Review Officer will either: uphold the original decision, provide an additional explanation of the exemption/s applied or release further information, if it is considered appropriate to do so.

Appeal to Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

If, following the outcome of the internal review you remain unhappy with our response, you may raise an appeal, within three months of receiving our response, with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). You should make complaints to the ICO within six weeks of receiving the outcome of an internal review.

Visit the ICO website to report a concern.

Call the ICO helpline on 0303 123 1113.

All information requests

See our previous responses to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

Search for FOI responses