Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the announcement of funding for the East Coast Digital Programme, what is the (1) timescale for completion, and (2) cost analysis, of that project.

Work has already started on the programme following an initial investment of £350m at the OBC stage in 2020. This has been primarily used to design and retrofit digital technology onto rolling stock. Infrastructure work has also commenced on the Northern City Line a branch of the ECML running from Moorgate to Finsbury Park which is acting as a test bed for the rest of the line. This first area will have signals away and entry into service in the mid-2020s. Following the further investment announced by the government of £950m for the programme, infrastructure works, business change activities for operators as well as fitment of this technology to locomotives will accelerate. Final signals away for the rest of the mainline covered by this investment is in the early 2030s.

In developing the business case for the programme, cost estimates were developed bottom-up, using pricing information supplied by industry partners. These estimates were then scrutinised by Network Rail using the 3 Lines of Defence approach, which includes independent analysis. The result of this analysis shows that over a 60-year appraisal period the programme will deliver “high value-for-money” over its lifetime.