Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to electrify the Transpennine Railway.

The Government remains committed to improving services on the Transpennine line. However, electrifying the line alone would not deliver the capacity and customer improvements which passengers are demanding. We are currently working with Rail North and Network Rail to develop very significant improvements for rail passengers on the route with phased introduction from December 2022. These could be the result of investment in new trains, electrification or other infrastructure work.