Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 62 of the Integrated Rail Plan, published in November 2021, whether it remains his Department's policy that improvement of journey times between Birmingham and Manchester is not possible without additional track capacity.

In line with normal practice, work to consider future service patterns and capacity in the light of Network North continues. The funding that has been redirected through our Network North plans will deliver multiple upgrades to the rail network across the North, the Midlands and the rest of the country – benefitting small towns alongside big cities, and including a major expansion to the Northern Powerhouse Rail core network with Bradford, Sheffield and Hull now incorporated.