Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 21015 to Question 7026, what the cost-benefit ratio was for North TransPennine electrification programme on the most recent date for which figures are available; and what the cost-benefit ratio was for North TransPennine electrification programme when combined with track improvements on that date.

As reported previously in the Answer of 13 July 2015 to Question 5807 and the Answer of 14 July 2015 to Question 7026 by my Hon Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, the Hon Member for Devizes (Claire Perry), the initial work on the North Transpennine electrification business case comprises a range of scenarios. The latest assessment of the benefit cost ratio for electrification alone showed it was poor value for money but when it is combined with track improvements to provide faster journeys and more frequent services, it has the potential to be high value for money. There are no further updates to that answer at this time.