Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost of upgrading all of the railway line between Waterloo and Exeter to double track.

Network Rail’s 2015 Wessex Route Study concluded that the forecast levels of growth between Salisbury and Exeter did not justify the need for additional sections of double track. Therefore, upgrading the single track sections of the line between London Waterloo and Exeter to double track is not a priority in the next Control Period (CP6). Further consideration may be given to this matter in Network Rail’s long term planning considerations for subsequent control periods.