Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a railcard for adults over the age of 30 who rely on regular rail travel for work in (a) the north and (b) other areas of England; and whether her Department plans to amend existing railcard schemes to support working age passengers.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Adults aged over 30 may be eligible for a number of national and regional railcards. Train operating companies also offer a range of products, such as season tickets, which can be used to support better value regular travel to work.
The Government has no current plans to review existing concessionary discounts. However, the Railways Bill gives Great British Railways the flexibility to update and expand concessionary offers as passenger needs change.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions she has had with her counterpart in the Welsh Government on how much of the £445 million funding for Welsh railways will be spent on (a) electrification, (b) railway station development, (c) railway station development and track upgrade and (d) any other category of expenditure.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
I have regular discussions with Welsh Government Ministers on a range of issues, including this Government’s historic investment in Welsh rail.
The UK Government has announced at least £445 million for rail enhancements in Wales, to right years of underfunding by previous Conservative Governments and unleash Wales’ economic potential.
This will mean new stations, more and faster trains on the key lines across North and South Wales, connecting people with the new, well-paid jobs we are creating across Wales.
The UK Government will set out more detail on the pipeline of projects that we will deliver very shortly.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions she has had with her counterpart in the Welsh Government on how much and what proportion of the £450 million investment in Welsh railways will be spent in the current spending review period; and whether her Department has issued guidance to Network Rail on the expected delivery schedule for that funding.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
The UK Government has announced at least £445 million for rail enhancements in Wales, to right years of underfunding by previous Conservative Governments and unleash Wales’ economic potential.
The vast majority of this investment will be spent in this Spending Review period, with a small amount profiled beyond this Spending Review period to help the development of the next set of projects.
This will mean new stations, more and faster trains on the key lines across North and South Wales, connecting people with the new, well-paid jobs we are creating across Wales.
The UK Government will set out more detail on the pipeline of projects that we will deliver very shortly.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if she will provide a breakdown by operations, maintenance, renewals and enhancement of funding committed by the UK Government to Welsh railways between 2025–26 and 2028–29.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
Estimated Operations, Maintenance and Renewals (OMR) expenditure for Wales during Control Period (CP) 7 is broken down as follows:
2024-25 - £502 million
2025-26 - £447 million
2026-27 - £503 million
2027-28 - £499 million
2028-29 - £487 million
In addition to this, the UK Government has announced at least £445 million for rail enhancements in Wales, to right years of underfunding by previous Conservative Governments and unleash Wales’ economic potential.
This will mean new stations, more and faster trains on the key lines across North and South Wales, connecting people with the new, well-paid jobs we are creating across Wales.
The UK Government will set out more detail on the pipeline of projects that we will deliver very shortly.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether the investment announced for Welsh railways forms part of a multi-year funding settlement; and how much of the investment is guaranteed beyond 2025–26, including planned spend in 2026–27 and 2027–28.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
The UK Government has announced at least £445 million for rail enhancements in Wales, to right years of underfunding by previous Conservative Governments and unleash Wales’ economic potential. The vast majority of this investment will be spent in this Spending Review period.
This investment will mean new stations, more and faster trains on the key lines across North and South Wales, connecting people with the new, well-paid jobs we are creating across Wales.
The UK Government will set out more detail on the pipeline of projects that we will deliver very shortly.
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 Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is (1) the route of the tunnels between Old Oak Common and Euston, and (2) the location of their Euston end portals; and how these features interact with any designs for the HS2 station at Euston.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
From Old Oak Common station, the twin bore Euston tunnels will head north-east under Kensal Green Cemetery before broadly following the line of the Network Rail West Coast Main Line into Euston. The alignment curves in a southerly direction under Primrose Hill and the bored tunnels will end beneath the junction of Parkway and Gloucester Avenue.
From this point the twin bore tunnels will transition into a group of structures termed the Euston approaches, rather than interfacing directly with the station at Euston. The Euston approaches include a set of sprayed concrete lined (SCL) tunnels that connect to the twin bored tunnels. The Euston approaches will broadly cover the area between London Zoo car park and Hampstead Road.
The immediate structure that is to interface with Euston station is a retained cutting, which extends for circa 600m from a northerly direction to the entrance of Euston station. This will enable the HS2 lines to fan out into the necessary configuration for the station and its platforms.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to extend land powers for the HS2 route between Birmingham and Crewe beyond 10 February 2025; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of those powers lapsing on future northern rail connectivity.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Northern Growth Strategy set out the Government’s intention to ultimately deliver a full North-South new line between Birmingham and Manchester. As part of this announcement, the Government confirmed that its existing land holdings between the West Midlands and Crewe will be retained.
We are aware that the existing land acquisition powers for the HS2 Phase 2a route expire in February 2026. We will set out our future intentions shortly.
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: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress she has made on improving rail accessibility in Luton North constituency.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the significant social and economic benefits that enhanced accessibility brings to communities.
On 15 January, we confirmed that accessibility upgrades will not progress at Leagrave station in the Hon. Member’s constituency at this time. The absence of third-party funding contributions to the project was the crucial factor in this decision. In contrast, all 30 of the 50 shortlisted projects which included a third-party funding contribution will now be progressing.
Nearby Luton Airport Parkway station already has step-free access to all platforms. Delivery is beginning on step-free upgrades at Luton station.
In the meantime, where step-free access is not available, train operators are required to provide alternative accessible transport at no additional cost to the passenger.
In addition to the Access for All programme, whenever the rail industry installs, replaces or renews station infrastructure, this work must comply with current accessibility standards, with enforcement action taken by the Office of Rail and Road where those standards are not met.
Should sources of funding be identified locally, for example through section 106 contributions, this would provide an opportunity to bring forward accessibility improvements at Leagrave station.
The Rail Minister would be pleased to meet with the Hon. Member, at her earliest convenience, to discuss accessibility at Leagrave station further.