Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Department expects reviews undertaken by Network Rail in support of continuing declarations of congested infrastructure to be published; and what the Department’s policy is on public transparency in relation to this.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail will continue to abide by the requirements of The Railways (Access, Management and Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2016 for as long as they are applicable. Any formal declaration of congestion is reviewed annually as a minimum with relevant high level updates being published on the Network Rail website via a Register of Congested Infrastructure and the Network Statement.
More information can be found on the Network Rail Website here; https://www.networkrail.co.uk/industry-and-commercial/information-for-operators/
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Early Indicators of Likely Congestion issued by Network Rail in relation to the Acton Lane, Washwood Heath and Crewe power supply areas constitute advisory Early Indicators of Likely Congestion or formal declarations of congested infrastructure under Regulation 26 of the Railways (Access, Management and Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2016.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Acton Lane, Washwood Heath and Crewe are all subject to Early Indicators of Congested Infrastructure. At the time of writing this response, none of these three areas of the network have satisfied the test for congested infrastructure under The Railways (Access, Management and Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2016 (The Regs).
Early Indicators of Likely Congestion are non-binding and advisory only with no legal or contractual status. As this notice is non-binding, it does not trigger the requirement for Network Rail to undertake either a Capacity Analysis, or a Capacity Enhancement Plan. Should the circumstances require a formal declaration of congested infrastructure then the relevant process will be followed in order to comply with the regulations.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Network Rail presentation “Operating Performance Model – DFTO Update” of June 2026, whether her Department uses the estimates that a 0.5 percentage-point improvement in T-3 punctuality would generate approximately £60 million in additional revenue and a 0.5 percentage-point improvement in cancellations would generate approximately £120 million in additional revenue; and whether these figures represent her Department's current assessment of the revenue impact of those improvements.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The estimates referenced in Network Rail’s June 2026 “Operating Performance Model – DFTO Update” presentation were produced as modelling assumptions to illustrate the potential relationship between operational performance improvements and revenue outcomes, and are not used by the Department as a current forecast of additional revenue.
Revenue impacts will vary depending on a range of factors, including passenger demand, wider economic conditions and the nature of the performance improvements delivered.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking under GBR to increase cross border rail connections, such as the Wrexham-Shropshire-Midlands Railway.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, of the ÂŁ21 billion of new local transport funding announced across the Comprehensive Spending Review period, how much funding is allocated to (a) Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities, (b) Mayoral Strategic Authorities, and (c) local councils not within a combined authority.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities will receive c£7.7bn of transport funding through their integrated settlement over the Spending Review period from 2026/27 to 2029/30 (to 2028/29 for Resource Funding).
Mayoral Strategic Authorities with a mayor in place will receive c£4bn of transport funding through the Mayoral Transport Fund over the same period.
All other local transport authorities will receive cÂŁ9.6bn of local transport funding over the Spending Review period, via the Integrated Transport Fund and Bus Services Fund. This includes cÂŁ1.2bn for Foundation Strategic Authorities (combined authorities without an elected mayor) and cÂŁ2.9bn for local authorities that are part of the Devolution Priority Programme and are due to be established as Mayoral Transport Authorities.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how competition regulations on state aid are applied by the Office of Rail and Road when assessing applications for Open Access rail services; and what changes are expected following the ORR's move into her Department.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Under the current framework, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is responsible for making access decisions in line with its statutory duties. Moving forward, this will change as Great British Railways takes over responsibility for managing access to the network and ORR takes on a new role to hold GBR to account and ensure fairness and transparency for all operators. ORR will not, however, become part of the Department for Transport – it will remain independent.
All public bodies, including ORR and the future GBR, are obliged to comply with subsidy control and competition legislation across all of their activities, and this will remain the case.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which English counties do not have a direct train link to London; and whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the lack of such links on those counties.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The only English county that does not have a direct train service from London is Shropshire.
The department requires its operators to plan services and rail timetables that are designed to meet expected passenger demand and provide value for money for the taxpayer.  Looking ahead to GBR, this offers us the opportunity to go further with optimising train services and driving up utilisation. Through GBR’s directing mind function, services and timetables will be developed in a coherent fashion that drives up network performance and improves the journey experience.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how the Railways Bill will ensure that access rights to the network are fair, transparent and enforceable, particularly where Great British Rail will both manage infrastructure and operate services.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The new access framework within the Railways Bill will ensure that GBR will determine the best use of the network capacity for all operators in accordance with its statutory duties. New legislation will include key safeguards for third party operators, ensuring that GBR’s decisions on network access are fair and transparent with a strong route of appeal to the ORR. GBR will be required to design and consult with industry on its access and use policy which will set out the processes and criteria on how it will take access and capacity allocation decisions, and on which the ORR will be a statutory consultee.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to ensure that Metro Mayors retain roles in heavy rail governance under the provisions of the Railways Bill.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Great British Railways (GBR) will work in partnership with Mayoral Strategic Authorities, underpinned by statutory roles outlined in the Railways Bill. The Railways Bill enables cooperation between GBR and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, allowing for information sharing and the ability to enter into arrangements regarding railway functions.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she will take to assess passenger affordability when setting rail fares.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Passenger affordability is a top priority for this Government when setting rail fares. That is why this year we have taken the historic step of freezing regulated rail fares for the first time in 30 years, putting money back in hard working people’s pockets and delivering savings for passengers across billions of journeys.
It is important that we strike the right balance between affordability for passengers and reducing the burden on taxpayers. As set out in the Government’s response to the consultation on the Railways Bill, future fares policy under Great British Railways (GBR) will be guided by strategic parameters and guardrails, set by the Secretary of State and aligned to GBR’s financial settlement, providing GBR with greater autonomy and flexibility compared to today. These will reassure passengers that their fares will remain affordable, while ensuring sustainable use of taxpayer money on the network.