Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on (a) the Folkestone to Wembley Rail Freight route and (b) adopting the gauge to W12 for cross-channel rail freight.

The Government fully supports the growth of international rail freight through the Channel Tunnel, recognising its economic and environmental potential.

Under our plans to deliver the biggest overhaul of the railways in a generation, Great British Railways will have a statutory duty to promote the use of rail freight, with an overall growth target set by the Transport Secretary.

Regarding gauge clearance, I am aware of industry proposals to enhance Kent routes to ‘W12’, in order to enable more containerised traffic from Europe. Alongside this, Network Rail has been considering more modest, incremental gauge clearance plans for it as a step towards W12. However, any investment decision will be subject to the usual business case process, working with industry, and will need to clearly demonstrate demand for enhanced infrastructure.