Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of an underground Northern Powerhouse Rail station at Manchester Piccadilly.

The Department is working with Transport for the North, Manchester City Council and Transport for Greater Manchester to explore ways to integrate Northern Powerhouse Rail into an HS2 station at Manchester Piccadilly. The aim is to develop a station which can accommodate future Northern Powerhouse Rail services, and which also provides value for money to the taxpayer.

Any solution should improve journey time and service frequency between key cities in the North of England including Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Hull and Newcastle.

Work to date has considered options for both an underground station and one at the surface. An update will be provided in Transport for the North’s business case for Northern Powerhouse Rail, which is due to be submitted to the Department by the end of 2018.