Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) investing in improving rail connectivity between northern cities, and (2) the economic benefits of such investment compared to those anticipated from HS2.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
By 2020 we will have spent over £13bn improving and modernising transport in the North of England. This investment includes providing better rail journeys through the Great North Rail Project. We have also upgraded the network between Liverpool and Manchester and the two new franchises are delivering more than 500 brand-new train carriages, with room for 40,000 more passengers and 2,000 extra services a week. In Liverpool City Region, £340m is being invested between now and 2019 to provide a bigger, better, more reliable railway for passengers.
The Government is committed to Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) – a transformational programme to bring the cities of the North closer together with faster and more frequent rail links. At Budget the Chancellor announced a further £37m to develop the scheme. This is on top of the £60m we have made available to Transport for the North to develop the business case for the scheme by the end of this year and will include an assessment of the economic benefits of the scheme.
HS2 brings similar benefits in improved connectivity between the major cities of the North and Midlands. The HS2 business case shows over £92 billion of benefits including £18 billion of wider benefits e.g. – delivering more than £2 of benefits for every £1 of investment. This represents good value for money and is in line with other major rail schemes.
HS2 is also critical in engineering terms to delivering Northern Powerhouse Rail as HS2 infrastructure is assumed to be used by NPR services. The Chancellor announced £300m in October 2017 to ensure that HS2 is future-proofed for Northern Powerhouse Rail.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) adequacy, and (2) timeliness of the compensation received by property owners affected by the HS2 project.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Government recognises the impact building a project on the scale of HS2 has on people and businesses along the route. It is determined to ensure they are properly compensated in a timely manner and treated with compassion, dignity and respect.
That is why the Government introduced an exceptional package of property compensation schemes across the whole route that are generous and comprehensive, and go beyond what is required by law. The schemes will remain in place until one year after HS2 is operational.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether HS2’s railway infrastructure, including rolling stock and tracks, is being designed to cope with heavy snowfall and sub-zero weather conditions.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The HS2 Infrastructure and Rolling Stock will be designed and constructed to meet precise targets associated with performance and reliability, these will be over and above the performance seen on the existing UK rail network. The targets include considerations for differing climatic conditions, including extreme weather.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Carillion’s financial collapse on HS2.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
There is no operational impact on HS2.
HS2 was awarded as a joint venture, comprising of Carillion, Eiffage and Kier. In the event of one of these parties not being able to fulfil their commitments, there is a guarantee that the other companies jointly involved in the bids will step in and ensure the successful delivery of the work.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to increase biofuel use for transport in the UK by raising the blend level of biofuels in fuel, and introducing the use of E10 fuel, a mix of petrol with ten per cent bioethanol.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Subject to Parliamentary approval, we plan to amend the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation to increase targets for the supply of renewable fuels from April 2018. We have established a working group with industry to consider the possible introduction of E10 fuel.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when (1) Bath Spa, and (2) Bristol Temple Meads, railway stations will be directly served by a high-speed, electrified railway line.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The new bi-mode Inter City Express Trains are already serving both destinations. Benefits to passengers include more frequent services operating on the line and up to 32% more seats.
The planned enhancement project between Bristol Temple Meads and Bath Spa is subject to ongoing assessment and investment decisions.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are their estimates of (1) the final cost of HS2, and (2) its completion date.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Spending Review 2015 confirmed a budget for the delivery of HS2 of £55.7 billion at 2015 prices. We are committed to delivering HS2 on time and on budget.
HS2 will run between London and Birmingham from 2026, extend to Crewe by 2027 and then link to Manchester and Leeds from 2033.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the HS2 project is within budget and on schedule; and what steps they are taking to ensure that it is delivered within budget and on schedule.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
HS2 is on time and on budget.
The Development Agreement between the Secretary of State for Transport and HS2 Ltd sets out a series of obligations and commitments on cost control and schedule. This agreement was originally signed by both parties in 2014 and has recently been extensively reviewed and republished in July 2017.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to seek the return of £1.76 million in unauthorised redundancy payments to HS2 executives, as detailed in the National Audit Office's report into its 2016–17 accounts.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
HS2 Ltd have a legal obligation to honour the redundancy payments made to individuals who were employed and will not be seeking their recovery.
HS2 Ltd will manage these payments within their existing budgets and as such the Department for Transport will not be providing any additional funds to cover these costs.
HS2 Ltd are putting in place controls to ensure that this does not happen again and are working to implement the recommendations of the NAO in full.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent publication <i>HS2 and the railway network: the case for a review</i> by Tony May and Jonathan Tyler, in particular the portions regarding costs and emissions arising from the development of Euston station.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
HS2 has undertaken a general review of the report. This includes points on emissions where HS2 consider reducing the speed of the railway makes minimal impact to the construction carbon footprint, and on costs where comparison with other schemes is not being made on a like for like basis.
For example the French track has no new stations, it does not go through a dense built-up urban area, it does not have the tunnels that we are building on HS2 to protect the environment, and property prices are very low in comparison to the UK. The net result is that it is cheaper, but we will use joint ventures including continental firms with experience of building high speed rail and this will drive down our costs.
The review did not specifically cover costs or emissions arising from the development of Euston Station. However, HS2 Ltd is committed to minimising the carbon footprint of HS2 as far as practicable and to delivering low carbon long distance journeys supported by low carbon energy. We will do this by, where practicable, avoiding carbon in the design, reducing carbon from construction and operations, using and/or generating low carbon energy and sequestering carbon.