Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of levels of funding provided by the UK Government for railways in Wales.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The level of investment across the different parts of the railway network is determined by the needs of the network, value for money and meeting the Government’s priorities. The benefits of this spend can accrue in geographically distant locations. The funding for the day-to-day running and renewal of the railway was determined via the comprehensive regulatory processes led by the independent regulator, the Office of Rail and Road.
Network Rail spending on operations, maintenance, and renewals in Wales for the five years between 2024 and 2029 is forecast to be £2.5 billion. This will be used to address climate effects, improve train performance from current levels, and invest in the areas that matter most to passengers and freight users. The Government had made a further commitment of at least £445 million of rail enhancements funding for Wales, and plans for future rail investment in Wales will be made in close consultation with the Wales Rail Board. This will be consulted ahead of the next Spending Review so that Wales’ long-term infrastructure needs continue to be recognised.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 30 January (HL13616), whether they will publish a map of the exact route of the Northern Powerhouse Rail project; and whether that route is electrified.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Northern Powerhouse Rail is expected to run on a core electrified railway between Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, and York, with onward services to Newcastle, Hull, and Chester for North Wales.
A schematic map was published as part of the Northern Growth Strategy: Case for Change command paper. Where relevant, public consultations, covering more detail on route alignment, will take place in due course.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the amount spend on railway flood defences and embankment maintenance by (1) South Western Railway, and (2) Great Western Railway, in each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government has not carried out any assessments as described in the Noble Lord’s questions. Train Operating Companies, including South Western Railway and Great Western Railway, are not responsible for managing or maintaining railway infrastructure and have not incurred any expenditure on flood defences or embankment maintenance.
Network Rail has robust plans in place to improve and maintain infrastructure. The Wales & Western Region will see a £2.6 billion asset renewals programme and £1.6 billion invested to maintain existing assets and the Southern Region will see an investment of over £3 billion in infrastructure during the current Control Period to 2029.
It is also addressing severe weather events through comprehensive weather resilience and climate change adaptation plans, focusing on safeguarding assets, embedding resilience into daily operations, and adapting to climate change impacts across both the Wales & Western and Southern routes.
An example is the extensive works being implemented at Chipping Sodbury on the Great Western Main Line to mitigate the impact of flooding from both surface water and groundwater. The work already completed has improved the level of resilience from closure due to rainfall. Network Rail is funding further work at this location during the current Control Period to 2029.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to ensure that areas in Wales that will not receive rail funding from the £445 million announced at the Spending Review 2025 receive rail investment from the UK Government.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Through the Wales Rail Board, the priorities for rail investment across all regions of Wales are discussed and agreed with the Welsh Government and Transport for Wales. The Wales Rail Board includes representation from the Department for Transport, Network Rail, the Welsh Government and Transport for Wales, and has been established to provide joint strategic direction for rail service development in Wales. It will continue to be consulted ahead of future Spending Reviews so that Wales’ long-term infrastructure needs continue to be recognised.
In addition to the £445 million rail enhancements funding committed to Wales, Network Rail is forecast to spend £2.5 billion on rail operations, maintenance, and renewals across the whole of Wales in the five years between 2024 and 2029. This will be used to address climate effects, improve train performance from current levels, and invest in the areas that matter most to passengers and freight users.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the resilience against flooding and landslips on embankments along the railway lines of (1) South Western Railway, and (2) Great Western Railway.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government has not carried out any assessments as described in the Noble Lord’s questions. Train Operating Companies, including South Western Railway and Great Western Railway, are not responsible for managing or maintaining railway infrastructure and have not incurred any expenditure on flood defences or embankment maintenance.
Network Rail has robust plans in place to improve and maintain infrastructure. The Wales & Western Region will see a £2.6 billion asset renewals programme and £1.6 billion invested to maintain existing assets and the Southern Region will see an investment of over £3 billion in infrastructure during the current Control Period to 2029.
It is also addressing severe weather events through comprehensive weather resilience and climate change adaptation plans, focusing on safeguarding assets, embedding resilience into daily operations, and adapting to climate change impacts across both the Wales & Western and Southern routes.
An example is the extensive works being implemented at Chipping Sodbury on the Great Western Main Line to mitigate the impact of flooding from both surface water and groundwater. The work already completed has improved the level of resilience from closure due to rainfall. Network Rail is funding further work at this location during the current Control Period to 2029.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to integrate climate change projections and increased storm frequency into long-term planning for transport and coastal defence infrastructure in Newton Abbot constituency.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has plans in place and underway with industry to adapt to and mitigate the risks of extreme weather caused by climate change. In 2024, the rail industry agreed a set of climate scenarios. This will harmonise data and methods and will help the industry develop consistent approaches to assess physical risks.
Network Rail is undertaking a programme of adaptation pathways across the network, including in Wales and Western region, which covers the Newton Abbot constituency, to develop a long-term strategic adaptation plan and identify priority areas for further adaptation investment. This approach will help identify those parts of the network which may require transformational change to enable safe and reliable services to continue in the future. Network Rail has also produced regional weather resilience and climate change adaptation plans (WRCCA). These explain Network Rail’s understanding of how weather and climate change can affect infrastructure at a more targeted, local level. This work is already informing discussions for future funding periods.
In addition, the Department has requested its train operating companies, including Great Western Railway, South Western Railway and CrossCountry, to produce their own WRCCA strategies due at the end of January 2026 and these will add further detail to our understanding of regional risks.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the resilience of the passenger rail network in the South West.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail is investing significantly in assets throughout the Western and Wales region, including in resilience to protect against storms and flooding in the South West. The storm events and particularly flooding that we have seen in the region recently have posed greater challenges than we have seen in the last few years. The rail industry continues to build plans to make our infrastructure more resilient including focusing on known black spots so that flooding instances are reduced, and where flooding and storms do occur, recovery of rail services can happen more quickly.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the exact route of the Northern Powerhouse Rail project is; and which cities it will run between.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Northern Powerhouse Rail will deliver turn-up-and-go railway services between Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and York, with regular services to Newcastle, Hull and Chester for North Wales. The first phase of work East of the Pennines will largely be upgrades to existing lines, including electrification. The government is taking forward work on the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill to seek powers for the section of route into Manchester via Manchester Airport. Options for further sections of new route, including connections to Liverpool, will be assessed with local leaders in the coming months, in advance of any public consultation.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Welsh Government have made a request for Northern Powerhouse rail to be designated as an England only project.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
We are working closely with the Welsh Government following our major commitment to the NPR programme.
Territorial classification of specific programmes depends on whether the policy area is devolved to the relevant devolved government in each nation or reserved to the UK Government. Heavy rail is reserved to the UK Government in England and Wales.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2025 to Question 53771 on Railways: Finance, what recent progress she has made on the Union Connectivity Development Fund.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Union Connectivity Development Fund (UCDF) has provided financial support for a range of transport connectivity projects in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
This includes funding to support four rail feasibility studies in Northern Ireland, the conclusions of which have just been published in a Translink report.
While there are no plans for further UCDF-supported projects once those already underway are concluded, the Department remains committed to its strong partnerships with the Devolved Governments, focusing on collaboration, capacity building and the sharing of best practice, where appropriate.