Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the amount of (a) land and (b) property estate owned by Network Rail that is (i) unused, (ii) under-developed and (iii) available for commercial use.

Network Rail owns c.52,000 hectares of land. All of Network Rail’s land is deemed to be operational and required for the specific functioning of the railway network. Land can only be deemed surplus once it has gone through a regulatory process governed by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

Network Rail regularly reviews whether land can be released from operational use and has a pipeline of potential sites that are at different stages of the business release and regulatory process. This is not a static list and information is released to potential purchasers and delivery partners at the appropriate time.

Significant sites that are in the pipeline for development, include:

• Newcastle Forth Yards: a 100-acre regeneration opportunity which could deliver 5,000 new homes

• Manchester Mayfield: opportunity for 1,500 new homes

• Cambridge: a mixed-use development with 425 homes

• Nottingham: 200 new homes following 348 successfully delivered homes at The Barnum, Nottingham

Network Rail also owns, and manages, other commercial uses on its estate principally within in its managed stations (retail and advertising for example) and within the retained arch portfolio.