Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps with her Scottish counterpart to help prevent issues on the railways in Scotland that cause northbound trains on the West Coast Mainline to terminate at Preston rather than continuing up to Carlisle.

The Secretary of State is aware of difficulties passengers face during disruption in the North-West of England with limited options to keep services moving on the West Coast Mainline north of Preston.

The Rail Minister has strongly pressed Network Rail and Avanti West Coast, requesting that they urgently work together to come up with solutions for passengers during disruption.

Network Rail is undertaking an upgrade programme on the West Coast Main Line north of Crewe to improve the performance and reliability of the railway. This section of the route was last upgraded in the 1970s and suffers from performance issues today.