Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) change in the demand for commuter train services that has arisen during the covid-19 outbreak and (b) how that change may affect (i) commuting and (ii) demand for HS2 in the long term.

The Department for Transport has not yet completed modelling the sensitivity of its major project business cases to post-COVID demand. HS2 is a predominantly long-distance service. There is significant uncertainty around how travel patterns will change post-Covid. This will be assessed more fully as part of the Outline Business Case for the Western Leg of Phase 2b, which we expect to be published by early 2022.