Network Rail: Finance

(asked on 8th December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the £1 billion reduction in Network Rail railway enhancement budget for Control Period 6 on (a) frequency and reliability of affected services, (b) jobs in Network Rail and the wider supply chain and (c) the Government’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan and carbon reduction targets.


Answered by
Chris Heaton-Harris Portrait
Chris Heaton-Harris
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
This question was answered on 14th December 2020

There are no current train services that have been impacted by the outcome of the Spending Review. The Spending Review has not cancelled delivery of any improvement works.

The Spending Review confirmed that the government is supporting the railway and we will continue investing in ambitious improvements to modernise it. We are currently working with Network Rail to agree a new baseline for the portfolio that fits with the new funding envelope. As such we are not yet in a position to fully assess the impact on Network Rail jobs and/ or the wider supply chain.

Furthermore, decarbonisation remains central to investment being made in Rail.

We are committed to building a railway that is greener and fit for the future and that is why we continue to look at ways to decarbonise our network in a way that makes best use of taxpayers funding.

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