Integrated Rail Plan: North and Midlands

Kieran Mullan Excerpts

Thursday 18th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

My hon. Friend will be pleased to know that Darlington is a big winner out of this package. The improved journey times and reliability from places such as Durham because of the east coast main line upgrades will make a big difference. I know that my hon. Friend is already making significant progress on his restoring your railway bids, because he has recently had success on that front.

[Dr Kieran Mullan (Crewe and Nantwich) (Con)]

HS2 is going to be transformative for my Crewe and Nantwich seat, bringing jobs and investment, so I am delighted that the Government have today committed to the Crewe-Manchester leg, which will bring journey times to the airport down to 15 minutes and journey times into Manchester itself down to less than half an hour, as well as, of course, freeing up the existing route. In respect of the leg from Birmingham to Crewe, I saw how important the passing of legislation was to unlock business confidence and investment, so will the Secretary of State outline when we can expect legislation on the Crewe to Manchester leg to pass into law?

[Grant Shapps]

The House will be considering a hybrid Bill for the Crewe to Manchester section, which is reconfirmed by the integrated rail plan announced today. The legislation will be introduced early next year, so it is all systems go.