Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any acknowledgement of the achievement by Network Rail in completing successfully over 99 per cent of its Christmas and New Year programme of 500 projects without impact on passengers.

My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin, has indeed acknowledged the achievements of Network Rail over the Christmas period on no less than three separate occasions.

Network Rail issued a press release on 4 January in which my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Transport stated: "Network Rail and the operators have delivered essential improvements to the rail network over the Christmas period. These are crucial for providing better journeys for passengers, progressing key projects such as Crossrail and the Thameslink Programme and nearly £100m of improvements in Lincolnshire, as part of our record investment in the railways.

I welcome the news that this has been completed on time. I would like to thank passengers for their patience, and pay tribute to the men and women who have been working in challenging weather conditions for much of the time."

On 19 January my Rt Hon Friend informed the other place: “Over the Christmas period, Network Rail also successfully carried out its biggest ever works as part of the railway upgrade plan that is so essential to the future of the British rail industry. I pay tribute to the thousands of staff who gave up their Christmas to improve our railways.”

And on 28 January my Rt Hon Friend remarked in the other place: “I pay tribute to Network Rail and its hard-working orange army of more than 20,000 staff who successfully delivered £150 million of essential improvements to the network over the holiday period, as part of our record programme of investment in the railways. Planning for Easter is well advanced, and the good practice demonstrated over Christmas is being embedded in the planning process for Easter and beyond.”