Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to take steps to ensure that bus services which connect communities are not affected after the current phase of Bus Recovery Grant Funding ends at the beginning of April 2023.
Answered by Richard Holden
The Government has made available nearly £2 billion since March 2020, through emergency and recovery grants, to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on the bus sector. This support is currently in place until the end of March 2023. The Department is actively considering its support for the bus sector beyond that point.
The Government already provides around £250 million annually to support bus services through the Bus Service Operators Grant, and supports spending of around £1 billion a year so that older and disabled people can travel on buses throughout England for free.
The Government is also taking proactive steps to help increase patronage by providing £60 million to help bus operators cap single fares at £2 on services in England outside London from 1 January to 31 March 2023. Over 140 operators covering more than 4,600 routes are participating in the scheme, which will help increase patronage on buses and help millions save on their regular travel costs.
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential economic benefits to Burnley of improvements to rail connectivity in and around the East Lancashire area; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Government supported the reopening of the Todmorden Curve in 2015 which has allowed a new faster and direct train service between Manchester Victoria and Burnley, opening up job prospects and tourist and leisure opportunities.
Work is progressing to assess the potential role of a re-opened Skipton-Colne rail line to deliver real benefits for passengers in East Lancashire, freight users and the local economy to complement the initial Strategic Outline Business Case completed in December 2018. These will inform the Government’s decision as to whether a reinstatement scheme should progress to the ‘develop’ stage of the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline.
More widely, to help communities both in East Lancashire and across the country, we have pledged £500m to start reopening lines closed following the Beeching report.