Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 22 October (HL10506), why work to assess the contribution of the East West Rail programme to both regional and national economic growth has not yet been completed; and when it will be completed.

The newly created East West Railway Company is in the process of evaluating the economic benefits of the railway. We expect an economic assessment of the next phase of the project, between Bicester and Bedford, to be published in the coming months. Analysis on the Central Section, between Bedford and Cambridge, is also being progressed. East West Railway Company is planning to hold a public consultation on route options for the Central Section in the early part of next year.