Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bloore and Heidi Alexander

Thursday 16th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bloore (Redditch) (Lab)]

6. What progress she has made on the midlands rail hub.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Heidi Alexander)]

We are progressing the first phase of the midlands rail hub to increase capacity in Birmingham. This will improve reliability and enable additional trains between Birmingham, south Wales and the south-west, and on Birmingham’s cross-city line. It will also enable over 25 additional trains a day on the Redditch line. Network Rail has appointed an alliance of industry partners to design the infrastructure, and the alliance is currently consulting on upgrades between Birmingham Moor Street and Bordesley.

[Chris Bloore]

I thank the Secretary of State for her answer. Rail bottlenecks choke regional trade and hold back Redditch businesses. Delivering the midlands rail hub is fundamentally both pro-business and pro-worker. Will the Secretary of State update me on when she expects critical engineering upgrades to start to ensure that Redditch is fully connected to regional growth?

[Heidi Alexander]

Following the Government’s decision to move forward with the first phase of the midlands rail hub at the spending review last summer, detailed design work has commenced. We are now working hard to deliver benefits to passengers as soon as possible. This is a complex scheme in a dense urban environment. I cannot currently give a specific start date for the physical works, but I can tell my hon. Friend that new train services enabled by the scheme should come on line in the 2030s.

Road and Rail Projects

Debate between Chris Bloore and Heidi Alexander

Tuesday 8th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Heidi Alexander]

If I may, I will write to the hon. Gentleman with the details he requests.

[Chris Bloore (Redditch) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for her statement and, more importantly, for her commitment to the midlands rail hub. That is not just warm words and empty promises, but a breakthrough moment for the west midlands, especially towns such as Redditch. The scheme will deliver extra services and millions more train seats a year for my businesses and constituents. Would she therefore like to visit Redditch to see what that improvement will mean for our town and, perhaps, to get the spades in the ground as quickly as possible to deliver the project?

[Heidi Alexander]

I would be delighted to visit the constituency of my hon. Friend, who is a great champion for Redditch. I know what a transformative project the midlands rail hub could be for his constituents by improving capacity into Moor Street station in Birmingham. I look forward to discussing it more when I visit.