Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the scheme for a new freight railway route between Liverpool and Yorkshire, including the reinstatement of the railway between Colne and Skipton, has completed Stage 1 of the Rail Networks Enhancement Pipeline (RNEP) and is now in Stage 2; and if not, how the work announced by the Secretary of State for Transport on 25 January relates to the RNEP.

The study into reinstating the Skipton-Colne rail line as part of a new freight railway route between Liverpool and Yorkshire was only the first step in establishing the feasibility of the project. We are now working to assess further the freight demand and commercial viability of the scheme.

The scheme remains a candidate for subsequent progression to the next ‘develop’ stage of the Rail Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) provided the business case is made.