Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Crewe station will be ready for the arrival of Phase 2a of HS2.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Crewe is a vital railway asset and a strategically important location on the rail network, but as the existing infrastructure is complex, the solution has to be right for the arrival of HS2. In March 2018, the Secretary of State confirmed the Government’s support for the Crewe Hub vision, and announced that plans for HS2 Phase 2a will include 400m platforms at Crewe station to allow for the splitting and joining of HS2 services. In addition, a more efficient design is proposed for the platform on the Manchester independent lines and a change to the design of the southern connection to the HS2 lines.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans the Government has to support the realisation of the Crewe Hub vision.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Crewe is a vital railway asset and a strategically important location on the rail network, but as the existing infrastructure is complex, the solution has to be right for the arrival of HS2. In March 2018, the Secretary of State confirmed the Government’s support for the Crewe Hub vision, and announced that plans for HS2 Phase 2a will include 400m platforms at Crewe station to allow for the splitting and joining of HS2 services. In addition, a more efficient design is proposed for the platform on the Manchester independent lines and a change to the design of the southern connection to the HS2 lines.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of responses (a) HS2 Ltd received to its consultation on HS2 Phase 2a and (b) received for other HS2 public consultations.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There were 499 responses received to the consultation on Phase 2a that closed on 26 February, 2021. For three recent consultations on HS2, there were 326 (Phase 2b Western Leg Design Refinement Consultation 2 2020), 1,307 (Phase 2b Design Refinement Consultation 2019) and 27 responses (Phase 2a Additional Provision 2 Environmental Statement and Supplementary Environmental Statement 2019). This information is made available online once the consultation responses are published.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made in establishing the Restart, Recovery and Engagement unit; and what plans he has for the (a) work objectives of that unit and (b) engagement of that unit with the aviation industry.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
In response to Covid-19, the Department for Transport established its Aviation Restart, Recovery, and Engagement Unit at the beginning of the pandemic. The objectives of the unit are to support the restart of the sector, enable its safe recovery post Covid-19, and the Unit has engaged with industry throughout this process.
As part of the Aviation Restart, Recovery, and Engagement Unit, the Department established the Expert Steering Group to engage and consult with the sector regularly. This Group has supported work done to date including the development of the aviation sector health measures guidance and implementation of the International Travel Corridors. In addition, Ministers and officials continue to meet with Airlines, Airports, Ground Handling companies and industry bodies frequently throughout the crisis.
The Government has now also launched the Global Travel Taskforce, which is considering:
The Global Travel Taskforce is also engaging with the sector on these points.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timeframe is for construction work on High Speed Two Phase 2a (West Midlands - Crewe) to commence.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Phase 2a Bill is currently in the House of Lords with petition hearings restarting before the Lords Select Committee next week. Parliamentary time allowing, we hope it will receive Royal Assent before the end of the year. Royal Assent of the Bill will allow construction of Phase 2a to begin. We expect the construction of Phase 2a to align with the timing of Phase One.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of High Speed Two construction sites are in operation as at 13 July 2020.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
229 sites out of a possible 244 sites are open, meaning that 94% of sites that could be open are open. All Construction sites for Main Works Civils on the Phase One route are open. A small number of enabling works construction sites remain closed/paused, primarily due to work requiring access to residents’ homes.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 on the timeframe for the construction of High Speed Two.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
High Speed Two Ltd continue to monitor the impacts of Covid-19 on construction. 94% of sites are open on Phase One and work is continuing in line with Public Health England Guidelines. As part of our twice-yearly reports to Parliament on the status of the project, we will consider the impacts of COVID-19 once the pandemic’s wider effect on the economy becomes clearer.