Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the assessment criteria used to forecast the results of investment in railway infrastructure.

The Department has a long-standing and established appraisal framework within Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG), which is aligned with HM Treasury Green Book on conducting welfare-based cost-benefit analysis to support a business case. Whilst this framework does not provide specific assessment criteria, it does provide general guidance on forecasting, estimating and assessing the costs and benefits of transport interventions, including railway infrastructure enhancements.

The Department continuously reviews its appraisal framework, through the TAG orderly release process, to improve the robustness of guidance provided and to reflect new research, trends and evaluation evidence. This typically involves a twice-yearly update to guidance, during Spring and Autumn.

Regarding railway infrastructure investment, the Department are actively considering research carried out by the Institute for Transport Studies, on behalf of the Rail Safety and Standards Board, and plan to bring forward improvements to associated guidance in the future.