Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what rail infrastructure investment was in the South West region from 1997-98 to 2015-16.

The Department specifies rail investment as part of a planning process that includes publishing a High Level Output Specification (HLOS). This sets out how much public expenditure it wishes to devote to rail and what it wants the railway to deliver. This takes into account rail infrastructure in England and Wales, including the South West. It does not include infrastructure investment made by third parties.

The first HLOS was published in 2007 and covers the period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2014 and the second HLOS published in 2012 covers the period 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2019. During these periods rail infrastructure has been delivered or is in delivery in the South West including Reading Station redevelopment, the Great Western Route Modernisation Programme and the Wessex Capacity Programme.

Further information can be found at the following links;

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/delivering-a-sustainable-railway-white-paper-cm-7176

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-level-output-specification-2012