Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will visit Llynclys Crossroads in North Shropshire constituency to assess the impact of potential design changes on road safety at that junction.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State would be interested to learn more about the particular issues with Llynclys Crossroads, but existing diary commitments mean she is unable to commit to a visit at this stage.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her oral statement of 8 July 2025 on Road and Rail Projects, what assessment she has made of potential impact of those projects on (a) jobs and (b) journey times in North Shropshire.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Backed by over £92 billion from the Spending Review settlement, the Government is delivering the biggest boost to England’s transport infrastructure in a generation, and unlocking schemes that deliver for the taxpayer and drive growth.
Millions of commuters and businesses will benefit from quicker journeys, as more than fifty road and rail upgrades have been given the green light - including funding for the Midlands Rail Hub as well as the M54 / M6 link road, which will help to cut journey times and connect thousands to key economic hubs across the Midlands and North Shropshire.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make it her policy to include upgrades to the A483 in North Shropshire in the third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3).
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Whilst I cannot commit to upgrades at this stage in the process of setting the next Road Investment Strategy, I can confirm National Highways is investigating a range of options to improve the safety performance of the A483 in North Shropshire which will be considered for possible delivery.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to help ensure decisions about open access applications prioritise services that connect stations that do not have direct services.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Under the current system access decisions are solely for the ORR. We’re supportive of Open Access services where they encourage growth, improve connectivity and provide more choice for passengers. When a new application is received the DfT can submit its views to the ORR via a consultation process and we highlighted the new direct services that formed part of the Wrexham Shropshire & Midlands Railway (WSMR) application when we wrote in support of this application in February 2025.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve the reliability of train operators on the West Coast Mainline.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are starting to see train performance stabilise, following a decade of decline. We are working with the rail industry on a Performance Restoration Framework, with five clear areas of focus to recover performance to acceptable levels, including timetable resilience, staffing and keeping trains safely moving during disruptive events.
The Rail Minister is meeting with the Managing Directors of all train operators and their Network Rail counterparts, to address poor performance and demand immediate action to raise standards.
Network Rail is undertaking a programme of renewal activity on the West Coast Main Line north of Crewe to improve the performance and reliability of the railway. This section of the route was last upgraded in the 1970s and suffers from performance issues today.
We are also investing in increasing the capacity and capability of the power system at both ends of the West Coast Main Line to improve performance on the route, enable the introduction of new electric services, and support growth.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help reduce journey times on public transport between North Shropshire and London.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Department officials continue to work directly with train operators to ensure the best possible service for both passenger and taxpayer.
For passengers travelling from Shropshire and changing to join services to London, Avanti West Coast increased the number of weekday services from 270 in 2024 to 295 from May 2025. Additional services now operate between London and Liverpool, Birmingham, North Wales and Glasgow providing more connections.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding her Department has provided to improve rail services in (a) North Shropshire and (b) Shropshire in each of the last five years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department will review the refreshed Business Case for line speed improvements between Wolverhampton-Shrewsbury when it is completed later this year.
Funding for this scheme would be subject to a satisfactory business case which represents value for money, affordability and strong benefits for the country.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help ensure that the Midlands Rail Hub contributes to economic growth in rural areas in Shropshire.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Midlands Rail Hub will kickstart economic growth and break down barriers to opportunity, by upgrading connectivity and reliability – with benefits across the country. This means providing capacity for hundreds of extra trains per day into central Birmingham and improving performance of services through New Street station, by making better use of Moor Street station.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much (a) development and (b) capital funding she has allocated for the Midlands Rail Hub in the Spending Review 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Chancellor’s commitment to progress Midlands Rail Hub West in the 2025 Spending Review follows the release of £123 million last year to design the first phase, which could be delivered by the early 2030s.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade to make an assessment of the potential impact of establishing the Oswestry-Gobowen railway line on the economy of the local area.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The previous government’s Restoring Your Railway programme funded the development of a Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for the Oswestry-Gobowen rail link. Feedback on the SOBC was provided to the promoters (Cambrian Heritage Railway Ltd) during 2023.
In July 2024, the Chancellor announced that the Restoring Your Railway programme would be closed. Any further assessment of the potential impact of this proposal should now be progressed as part of Shropshire Council’s Local Transport Plan.