Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she plans to seek new nominations for another round of mid-tier Access for All funding.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Spending Review 2025 confirmed £280m total funding for the Access for All programme over a four-year period. Our focus is on delivering full step free access at stations, rather than the smaller scale upgrades previously delivered under the mid-tier. As such, we have no current plans to fund a future round of mid-tier projects.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of allocating funding to Westmorland and Furness Council for buses in rural areas for funding periods of more than 12 months.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government knows how important, reliable bus services are enabling people to access education, work and vital services, and we are committed to delivering better bus services, including in Cumbria and rural areas right across the country.
The Government introduced the Bus Services (No. 2) Bill on 17 December as part of its ambitious plan for bus reform. The Bill will put passenger needs, reliable services and local accountability at the heart of the industry by putting the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, including in rural areas. The Bill includes a measure on socially necessary services so that local authorities and bus operators have to have regard for alternatives to changing or cancelling services.
As part of the Autumn 2024 Budget, the Government allocated over £1 billion to support and improve bus services in 2025/26 and keep fares affordable. This includes £712 million for local authorities that can be used to expand services and improve reliability, which are currently massive obstacles for too many people. Westmoreland and Furness Council has been allocated £4.2 million of this funding. Funding allocated to local authorities to deliver better bus services can be used in whichever way they wish to improve services for passengers, including expanding services and improving reliability.
The Government recognises the importance of providing local authorities with the certainty they need to plan and provide effective bus services, which is why we have committed to delivering longer-term funding settlements. The Government reaffirmed its commitment to investing in bus services long-term in this Spending Review, confirming additional funding per year from 2026/27 to maintain and improve bus services, including taking forward franchising pilots and extending the £3 bus fare cap until March 2027. We are currently reviewing the formula used to allocate the Local Authority Bus Grant for 2025/26 to ensure bus funding is allocated as fairly as possible in future years. Individual multi-year allocations for local authorities will be announced later this year.
Cumbria has been allocated additional funding as one of the areas taking part in the bus franchising pilots. The pilots will test approximately 5 different franchising models to investigate how they can be implemented and deliver improved bus services for passengers, including in more rural locations. The pilots will provide funding, guidance, and practical resources to local transport authorities to identify the most suitable approach to bus franchising and wider bus reform measures.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to increase bus provision for rural communities in Cumbria.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government knows how important, reliable bus services are enabling people to access education, work and vital services, and we are committed to delivering better bus services, including in Cumbria and rural areas right across the country.
The Government introduced the Bus Services (No. 2) Bill on 17 December as part of its ambitious plan for bus reform. The Bill will put passenger needs, reliable services and local accountability at the heart of the industry by putting the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, including in rural areas. The Bill includes a measure on socially necessary services so that local authorities and bus operators have to have regard for alternatives to changing or cancelling services.
As part of the Autumn 2024 Budget, the Government allocated over £1 billion to support and improve bus services in 2025/26 and keep fares affordable. This includes £712 million for local authorities that can be used to expand services and improve reliability, which are currently massive obstacles for too many people. Westmoreland and Furness Council has been allocated £4.2 million of this funding. Funding allocated to local authorities to deliver better bus services can be used in whichever way they wish to improve services for passengers, including expanding services and improving reliability.
The Government recognises the importance of providing local authorities with the certainty they need to plan and provide effective bus services, which is why we have committed to delivering longer-term funding settlements. The Government reaffirmed its commitment to investing in bus services long-term in this Spending Review, confirming additional funding per year from 2026/27 to maintain and improve bus services, including taking forward franchising pilots and extending the £3 bus fare cap until March 2027. We are currently reviewing the formula used to allocate the Local Authority Bus Grant for 2025/26 to ensure bus funding is allocated as fairly as possible in future years. Individual multi-year allocations for local authorities will be announced later this year.
Cumbria has been allocated additional funding as one of the areas taking part in the bus franchising pilots. The pilots will test approximately 5 different franchising models to investigate how they can be implemented and deliver improved bus services for passengers, including in more rural locations. The pilots will provide funding, guidance, and practical resources to local transport authorities to identify the most suitable approach to bus franchising and wider bus reform measures.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans she has to improve accessibility at Staveley railway station.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the social and economic benefits this brings to communities. Since 2006, the Access for All (AfA) programme has delivered step free access at more than 270 stations across Britain.
In 2022, the previous government sought nominations from train operators and transport authorities for potential upgrades through the AfA programme. Staveley station was not nominated.
The hon member may wish to engage with Northern Trains and the local transport authority to make that case that Staveley station is a priority in any future rounds of funding.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to reduce train delays on the West Coast Mainline.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Improving rail performance is one of this Government’s strategic priorities for transport. We are determined to deliver more punctual and reliable services as well as better value for money for the taxpayer.
In response to our challenge to improve performance, the rail industry has set out a Performance Restoration Framework, with five clear areas of focus to recover performance to acceptable levels, including timetable resilience, staffing and how to keep trains moving during disruptive events.
Avanti West Coast (AWC) is beginning to see consistent and steady performance improvements on the network. However, there is still more to do with punctuality behind the industry average and Network Rail infrastructure reliability continuing to be a leading cause of passenger disruption on the West Coast Mainline.
The Rail Minister is in regular contact with the AWC Managing Director and Network Rail, to challenge poor performance and demand immediate action to deliver urgent improvements.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps with her Scottish counterpart to help prevent issues on the railways in Scotland that cause northbound trains on the West Coast Mainline to terminate at Preston rather than continuing up to Carlisle.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State is aware of difficulties passengers face during disruption in the North-West of England with limited options to keep services moving on the West Coast Mainline north of Preston.
The Rail Minister has strongly pressed Network Rail and Avanti West Coast, requesting that they urgently work together to come up with solutions for passengers during disruption.
Network Rail is undertaking an upgrade programme 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.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to include the Lakes Line Passing Loop in the next Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline announcement.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 8 July, the Secretary of State announced the road and rail schemes which have been prioritised over the next four years following the Spending Review. The Lakes Line scheme has not been progressed at this time. We remain committed to working with Westmorland & Furness Council, should the business case be further developed locally.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has taken recent steps to implement a passing loop on the Lakes Line.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 8 July, the Secretary of State announced the road and rail schemes which have been prioritised over the next four years following the Spending Review. The Lakes Line scheme has not been progressed at this time. We remain committed to working with Westmorland & Furness Council, should the business case be further developed locally.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will include the Lakes Line Passing Loop in the next Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We believe the Local Transport Authority can best determine whether this project meets their local needs. The Department will continue to support development work on this scheme, should local budgets be prioritised.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the time taken to publish the next Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline on the timescale for future rail investment.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is taking decisions to progress the schemes that have the greatest potential to unlock growth only once we are confident that they will deliver it. The time taken to undertake this work has no impact on the timescales for future rail investments.
I know that stakeholders and industry want to know what is in our rail investments pipeline and want more visibility of our forward plans of work. I will continue to announce details of schemes as decisions are taken, just as we did at the Budget for East West Rail and Transpennine Route Upgrade.