Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the impact that HS2 will have on rail freight operations on the West Coast Mainline.

The Department expects that Hs2 will offer a number of opportunities to the freight industry. The released capacity enabled by Hs2 could provide space for an extra 20 West Coast Main Line freight paths per day. Furthermore, the construction itself will provide significant business opportunities, as preliminary analysis suggests that five million cubic metres of excavated material will need to be moved by rail.

The Department understands that there may be concerns about the impact of construction on the existing rail freight network. Works on or near the existing railway during construction, however, will be undertaken in such a way to minimise adverse impacts as far as reasonably practicable. For example, as many works as possible will be undertaken in the normal night time and weekend maintenance periods so as to minimise disruption to passenger and freight services.