Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 12 February (HL1259), what is the (1) average, and (2) expected, time for a railway re-opening scheme to progress through the (a) rail network enhancement pipeline (RNEP) and (b) Governance of Railway Investment Projects (GRIP) schemes; whether the RNEP and GRIP schemes will operate consecutively or concurrently; and what is the relationship between the GRIP process and the development of schemes through the RNEP in (i) research into the economic impact of reopenings, (ii) site investigations, (iii) scheme design, (iv) effects on the wider network, and (v) costs.

The Department for Transport Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline (RNEP) and the Network Rail Governance of Rail Investment Projects (GRIP) processes will operate concurrently until completion of the RNEP process, following which the GRIP process will continue until the scheme completion. The GRIP process will inform the wider business case used in the RNEP process to make decisions on whether to proceed. The time taken for a re-opening scheme to progress through the two processes will depend on the complexity and detail required to understand the costs and benefits, and the extent of the construction required.