Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the current maximum passenger carrying capacity from London to Birmingham by rail; and how much additional capacity they estimate will be added by HS2.

The Department for Transport considered the impact of HS2 on the West Coast Main Line rail corridor in the Supplement to the October 2013 Strategic Case for HS2. The increase in peak-time seats on Birmingham services associated with HS2 (the Phase 2 “Y“ shaped network) was estimated at 97% compared to today’s capacity. HS2 was also estimated to increase PM-peak, standard-class seats from Euston from 15,869 to 39,566 across all Intercity West Coast (ICWC) services.