Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to progress the feasibility study for the extension of the Borders Railway to Carlisle.
The Scottish Government is building the evidence base through their Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR) process, due to report in early 2021. DfT officials and Transport Scotland are discussing the scope of complementary DfT-funded feasibility work on the cross-border benefits and challenges of the options. This work will be commissioned and carried out during 2020 so as to inform and enhance the output of the STPR process.