Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will meet with the Hon. Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood and a delegation of Lancaster business leaders on HS2 and Lancaster.

I understand the importance of HS2 serving the North West. Lancaster will be served from Birmingham in the full HS2 Y network in 2033, as per the central case indicative train service specification in the Phase 2 Economic Case published in June 2017. On 12 February, my Written Ministerial Statement informed the House that the second additional provision to the High Speed Rail (West Midlands - Crewe) Bill includes works at and around Crewe station including the extension of platform 5 to accommodate 400-metre HS2 trains. As well as supporting the Crewe hub vision, this could enable direct services between London and Lancaster bringing additional benefits six years earlier in 2027. Work is currently assessing whether it is possible to extend the services and I would be happy to provide an update in due course