Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government who will be the promoter of the Crewe to Manchester section of High Speed Rail; and whether they intend to let contracts on a cost-plus basis in a similar way to those let for Phase 1.

HS2 Ltd continue to support the promotion of the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill which will be adapted to deliver only the section of route necessary for Northern Powerhouse Rail. No decisions have been taken on the long-term delivery strategy on contracting choices for the Northern Powerhouse Rail programme at this stage.

Our long-term ambition is to improve capacity and connectivity between Birmingham and Manchester with a new rail line. This will not be a reinstatement of HS2 and no decisions have been taken on the exact specification, route or the approach to implementing or contracting the project.

We will learn lessons from the implementation of HS2 to take the time necessary to undertake the development work to underpin these decisions.