Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2014 to Question 218298, how many of the 850 electrified route miles referred to were committed to by the previous Government; how many route miles of High Speed 1 were completed (a) up to and (b) after 1 May 1997; and how many route miles have been electrified since 6 May 2010.

In respect of the commitment to 850 miles of railway electrification by 2019, referred to in the Answer of 16 December 2014 to Question 218298, 4 miles were committed to by the previous Government arising from their High Level Output Specification determination in 2007 of the railway outputs for Control Period 4 covering the period 2009-2014. In the summer of 2009, 12 years after coming into office, the previous Government also announced the intention for some additional electrification schemes to be carried out for delivery in the years post-2010 involving a further 257 miles.

The construction of the 67 miles of High Speed 1 started after 1 May 1997 and the construction of this route was completed prior to 6 May 2010, although it was the previous Conservative government which introduced the legislation to enable this construction to take place

Eighteen miles of the committed 850 miles electrification have been completed since 6 May 2010.