Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of (a) running an hourly train service from London to Shrewsbury and (b) electrifying the route between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury on (i) the economy and (ii) jobs in Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency.

Midlands Connect is preparing a strategic review of options for speeding up and additional services to Shrewsbury. It expects to publish the review later this year and this will form the basis for specific proposals to improve the service. No formal assessment has been made by the Department at this time.

Electrification will play an important role in our programme to achieve our Net Zero 2050 objective. As we develop our rail decarbonisation programme, we will carefully consider the opportunity to support local economic development.