Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are their current plans in relation to the Queensbury tunnel.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department agreed in July 2020 to fund two feasibility studies looking at options for the future of the tunnel. The first, led by Highways England, is examining what would need to be done and how much it would cost to return the tunnel to a safe and usable condition. The second, led by the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, is looking at options for greenway routes between Bradford and Halifax, both including and excluding the tunnel, so that the relative costs and benefits of each can be considered. A steering group comprising the Department for Transport, Highways England, and the relevant local authorities is overseeing the studies, both of which are due to be complete by the spring and will inform any future decision on the future of the tunnel.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have established targets for the number of miles of railway line that will be reinstated for passenger use as part of the Restoring Your Railway Fund (1) within five years, and (2) within ten years; and what estimate they have made of the total length of reinstated lines, in miles, that will be achieved in those time periods.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The £500m Restoring Your Railway fund aims to start reopening lines and stations, reconnecting smaller communities, regenerating local economies and improving access to jobs, homes and education. No targets have been established for the number of miles of railway line that will be reinstated for passenger use and no estimate made of the total length of reinstated railway lines.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the allocation of £34 million to the scheme to restore passenger services to the Ashington–Blyth rail line, where the scheme lies within (1) the Rail Enhancement Schemes Pipeline and (2) the Governance for Railway Investment Projects (GRIP) process.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 23rd January, the Government announced £34m for preparatory works to progress re-opening the Northumberland line to passengers. A Final Business Case is now being prepared by DfT, Northumberland County Council and Network Rail, with a view to seeking a ‘Decision to Deliver’ though the RNEP by the end of the year. The scheme is currently at stage 4 of the GRIP process.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the role of Highways England in maintaining disused railway structures; what assessment they have made of the efficacy of existing procedures relating to disused railway structures; and what plans they have to review such procedures.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In addition to its primary role as highway authority for the strategic road network in England, Highways England manages the Historical Railways Estate on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport across England, Scotland and Wales. Highways England’s existing procedures are designed to keep the public safe and are underpinned by what is the safest and most appropriate option for a given structure.
Although there are currently no plans to review existing procedures, this will be kept under consideration.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether (1) electrification, (2) junction improvements, (3) improved signalling, and (4) new terminal facilities, for rail freight networks are assessed through (a) the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline, or (b) the Governance for Railway Investment Projects scheme and its successor; and if so, how, in each case, they are assessed as priorities by comparison with improvements directed at passenger services.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) is the Government’s primary mechanism for progressing and funding enhancements for both passenger and freight services in England and Wales.
Investment in electrification, junctions and signalling improvements require the development of a business case and are assessed for contribution to the Government’s objectives as well as their affordability, value for money and their deliverability. Each scheme is assessed on its own merits.
By contrast, investments in new freight terminal and interchange facilities are wholly led by the private sector, responding to commercial demands. Freight Operating Companies work closely with the infrastructure manager, Network Rail, to secure appropriate connections onto the railway network and paths for services to operate.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which rail electrification projects in England were agreed between 2010 and 2015; and which (1) have been completed, and (2) have not gone ahead.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The table below includes electrification schemes in the 2012 High Level Output Specification and schemes considered by Sir Peter Hendy's re-planning of Network Rail’s investment programme. It also includes Network Rail’s assessment of whether these schemes have been completed.
Scheme | Completed |
Gospel Oak to Barking Electrification | Yes |
North of England Programmes/Northern Hub - North West Electrification | Yes |
Walsall to Rugeley Trent Valley Electrification | Yes |
MML Programme – Electrification Key Output 1 (Bedford to Kettering/Corby) | Yes |
Bromsgrove Electrification | Yes |
Great Western Electrification Programme |
|
- Maidenhead to Didcot | Yes |
- Didcot to Wootton Bassett Junction | Yes |
- Reading to Newbury | Yes |
- Wootton Bassett Junction to Bristol Parkway | Yes |
- Bristol Parkway to Cardiff | Yes |
- Wootton Bassett Junction to Bristol Temple Meads | No |
- Didcot to Oxford | No |
- Filton Bank | No |
Lostock Junction to Wigan North Western Electrification | No |
MML Programme – Electrification Phase 2 (Kettering to Nottingham and Sheffield via Derby) | No |
Acton (GWML) to Willesden (WCML) Electrification | No |
- Basingstoke – Southampton Central (third rail conversion to OLE) | No |
- Leamington Spa to Coventry Electrification and Capacity | No |
- Oxford to Bletchley Electrification | No |
- Oxford to Leamington and Coventry to Nuneaton Electrification | No |
- Sheffield to ECML electrification | No |
- Southcote Junction to Basingstoke Electrification | No |
North trans-Pennine line electrification (Manchester Victoria and Guide Bridge – Huddersfield – Leeds – Colton Jnc) | No |
Oxenholme to Windermere Electrification | No |
Selby to Hull electrification | No |
Thames Valley Branch Lines | No |
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which rail electrification projects (1) are currently taking place, and (2) been given approval to start, in England; and what is the proposed start date for each approved project.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Enabling and design work is currently taking place on the Midland Main Line to complete electrification up to Market Harborough. Following the Spending Review settlement, we continue to progress development and design of the TransPennine Route Upgrade, including the examination of the case for full electrification of the route. A number of other potential electrification schemes are being considered for further development through the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made on the New trans-Pennine roads study by Highways England, announced by the Secretary of State for Transport on 21 March 2019; and when the results of that study will be announced.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Highways England has come to the end of the analytical phase of the study, which has looked at how a number of strategic corridors perform for an enhanced Central Pennines route east of the M65. This has used detailed traffic modelling tools to identify benefits, explore potential costs, understand the implications and opportunities for the environment and examine potential economic impacts. Decisions will be made shortly as to how the findings of the study should be addressed.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to revise the algorithms used to assess the benefits of transport investment schemes in order to support their levelling-up agenda.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Transport business cases follow the HM Treasury five case business case model. Decisions are informed by the assessment of the scheme in relation to strategic fit, value for money, deliverability, commercial and financial considerations. The appraisal framework set out in the Department’s Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG) is intended to support scheme promoters to capture the full range of impacts associated with transport investment (economic, social and environmental) as part of the economic case.
The Department is planning to publish an initial response to the HM Treasury Green Book Review this Spring as part of a wider update to business case guidance. This will set out work in progress to support the appraisal of schemes which meet Government’s strategic priorities, and how we plan to implement other changes required by the Review. This includes ensuring that existing tools and flexibilities in current strategic and economic case guidance are used fully in making the case for investment which supports levelling up. The Department’s Rebalancing Toolkit provides guidance to describe how a transport investment scheme fits with the objective of spreading growth across the UK and can be used to assess the impact and identify the benefits that a transport scheme may have on local and regional economic performance.
The Green Book Review found that existing appraisal practice may lead to a focus on boosting benefit-cost ratios at the expense of analysis which illuminates the impacts of a proposed investment. The Department plans to review the existing culture and processes around the development of transport business cases to address behaviour and incentives which may be obstacles to supporting the delivery of Government’s objectives.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effects of changes to the Green Book on the viability of proposed railway enhancement schemes; and whether there will be a greater emphasis on benefits related to regeneration and access to employment for people living in economically deprived areas.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Transport business cases (including those for proposed railway enhancement schemes) follow the HM Treasury five case business case model. Decisions are informed by the assessment of the scheme in relation to strategic fit, value for money, deliverability, commercial and financial considerations. The appraisal framework set out in the department’s Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG) is intended to support scheme promoters capture the full range of impacts associated with transport investment (economic, social and environmental) as part of the economic case. These impacts include agglomeration, labour supply and land use change impacts, as set out in TAG unit A2.1
The department is planning to publish an initial response to the Green Book Review this Spring as part of wider update to business case guidance. This will set out work already in progress to support the appraisal of schemes which meet Government’s strategic priorities and how we plan to implement other changes required by the Review. The department is considering what improvements may be required across business cases to support the Government in delivering on its strategic priorities. This includes ensuring that existing tools and flexibilities in current strategic and economic case guidance are being fully used to support scheme promoters in making the case for investment which supports levelling up. The department’s Rebalancing Toolkit provides guidance to describe how a transport investment scheme fits with the objective of spreading growth across the UK. This tool can be used to assess the impact and identify the benefits that a transport scheme may have on local and regional economic performance. We plan to highlight these flexibilities alongside reviewing existing guidance and ensuring that relevant analysis is presented to decision makers.
The Green Book Review found that existing appraisal practice may lead to a focus on boosting benefit-cost ratios at the expense of analysis which illuminates the impacts of a proposed investment. The department plan to review the existing culture and processes associated with the development of transport business cases to understand and address behaviour and incentives which may be obstacles to supporting the delivery of Government’s objectives.