Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure cross-border rail routes benefit from the Government's investment in HS2.

As planned, HS2 trains will run directly to Scotland via a connection to the West Coast Main Line south of Preston, reducing journey times and improving reliability for rail services between England and Scotland.

The Department for Transport has been working with Transport Scotland, HS2 Ltd and Network Rail to identify further options for improvements to cross-border routes, which could further reduce journey times, ease congestion, and create jobs, investment opportunities, and environmental and economic benefits for the whole of Scotland.

For North Wales, the plans would see passengers benefitting from an HS2 interchange at Crewe, with shorter journey times to London, Birmingham, the towns and cities of the Midlands and the Thames Valley area via Old Oak Common and elsewhere.

In August 2019 the Prime Minister asked Doug Oakervee to chair an independent review of HS2 to provide advice on how and whether to proceed. The Government will set out the next steps for High Speed 2 in due course.