Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of public transport links in North Cornwall.

The Secretary of State has made no recent assessment of the adequacy of public transport links in North Cornwall.

However we have made the following investments to improve public transport across the wider Cornwall area:

• New Hitachi Intercity Express Trains will start taking over from the existing High Speed Trains on the route between London and the South West this year;

• Protecting the line at Dawlish is a national priority of utmost importance and we are determined to find a permanent solution for this vital connection. £15 million of funding has been provided to Network Rail to take this forward and planning and development work is well under way;
• Train services between Plymouth and Penzance will increase in frequency to two per hour. The first of the fully modernised High Speed Trains that will operate on that route entered service in March;
• The London to Cornwall Sleeper trains are undergoing a thoroughgoing modernisation, with most vehicles now complete and in service;
• Penzance Depot has been expanded and upgraded with money from HS2 and Cornwall Council.

Over 800 responses were received to the Department’s consultation on the future of the Great Western franchise. We are currently considering those responses and will respond in due course.