Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reinstate direct access from Northolt Junction to Paddington.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I can confirm there are no plans to reinstate direct access services from Northolt Junction to Paddington.
Chiltern Railway used to run a twice daily service from Northolt Junction (i.e. South Ruislip Station) to London Paddington. In December 2018, this route was cancelled with the closure of the Acton-Northolt line to enable High Speed 2 works.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2023 to Question 203239 on High Speed 2 Line: West Coast Main Line, whether he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reconfiguring Heaton Norris Junction to (a) facilitate new local rail services through Stockport, (b) retain local rail services through Stockport and (c) facilitate future orbital Tram-Train services along the Stockport-Stalybridge line.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The announcement on 4 October launching Network North represents a significant new £36bn programme of transport investment across the country. Regarding services through Stockport, following this announcement, we are in the early stages of planning next steps, including delivery timelines for these schemes and are working closely with Network Rail.
Regarding future orbital Tram-Train services along the Stockport-Stalybridge line and the merits of upgrading Heaton Norris Junction, the Department has received a Restoring your Railway bid to upgrade the existing line between Stockport and Ashton-under-Lyne.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the current specification given to HS2 for the building of Old Oak Common Station includes a requirement that disabled passengers must be able to embark and disembark from all (1) HS2, (2) Great Western Railway, and (3) Elizabeth Line trains, without needing to use manual boarding ramps.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The High Speed platforms at Old Oak Common Station have been designed to enable level boarding. Passengers using the conventional rail platforms at the station will join services using several different types of rolling stock and the railway will also be used by important freight services. To ensure the railway can be used by all of these train services and provide maximum availability and resilience for passengers, there needs to be consistent platform heights across the conventional station platforms, which means level boarding will not be available on Great Western Railway and Elizabeth line services. The station is fully compliant with Network Rail standards.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether plans for extending HS2 to Leeds will involve HS2 and traditional passenger trains calling at the same station platforms; and if so, (1) how the differences in planned station platform heights for different trains will be accommodated, and (2) what cost benefit analysis they have made of making provisions for differing station platform heights for different types of trains.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The IRP included £100 million for work to look at the most effective way to run HS2 trains to Leeds, including understanding the optimal solution for capacity at Leeds station, and starting work on the West Yorkshire Mass Transit System.
We intend to publish the terms of reference for the HS2 to Leeds Study soon, which will provide more information on the options under consideration.
Asked by: Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, given current economic conditions, what assessment they have made of the likely additional costs of labour and materials on the overall cost of delivering the HS2 project; and what impact these additional costs will have on the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of HS2.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The HS2 programme is experiencing high levels of inflation, consistent with the rest of the economy and construction industry. Whilst I am clear that HS2 Ltd and its supply chain must do all they can do mitigate inflationary pressures, the overall cost of the programme is not affected in real terms because the budgets are set in 2019 prices.
Inflation affects the value of the costs as well as the benefits and using a consistent price base removes the effects of general inflation from the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) calculation. If materials cost inflation and general inflation are significantly different, the BCR could change. Labour and materials costs are modelled as part of the BCR analysis and will be updated for the next iteration of the HS2 business case.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the Treasury internal review into HS2 reported in the Financial Times on 17 October 2022.
Answered by Kevin Foster
We will not comment on the detail of leaked reports or on commercially sensitive matters. HS2 is well underway delivering vital infrastructure investment to contribute to Britain’s economic growth with 27,000 people working on it already.
We do not intend to publish the review as this was internal advice to the Minister for HS2. We report on the programme's status to Parliament every six months and Ministers will provide their next update to Parliament shortly.
Asked by: John Baron (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made a recent estimate of the potential cost savings of (a) cancelling and (b) postponing HS2.
Answered by Kevin Foster
There are no plans to cancel or postpone HS2, which remains at the heart of this Government’s plans to boost economic growth. HS2 is transformational and will act as a catalyst to help level-up the economies of the Midlands and the North.
With construction now well underway, HS2 and its supply chain is already supporting 27,000 jobs, including over 950 apprenticeships and over 2,500 businesses, 97% of which are UK-registered.
I look forward to updating the House shortly on the progress of the programme through the next six- monthly update.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 20 December 2021 (HL4859), whether conventional UK passenger trains will be able to use the same platforms without modification.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is unlikely that existing conventional British passenger trains would be able to use the HS2 platforms. HS2 platforms are offset further from the track than the conventional network and trains will therefore need a deployable step to bridge the gap from the train to the platform. The HS2 rolling stock, which is being procured to be compatible with the conventional network, has such a step. The only British trains with similar deployable steps (built for Merseyrail, Greater Anglia and Transport for Wales) are designed for a 915mm platform, so would have a step up to an HS2 platform. All other conventional trains would have an unacceptably large horizontal gap to an HS2 platform. Existing conventional compatible stock is unlikely to comply with other HS2 standards which might prevent access to the HS2 network. Future procurements of rolling stock on the conventional network could be compatible with HS2 infrastructure and platforms if the train is specified to meet HS2 standards and has a deployable step.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 20 December 2021 (HL4859), what is the expected time saving for (1) boarding, and (2) disembarking, at an HS2 station for similar door widths and passenger numbers between (a) an HS2 train, and (b) a standard UK train, using a station with a platform height of 1115mm above rail.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
An existing, standard British train would not be compatible with HS2 platforms due to the larger offset and height. Future procurements of ‘standard’ trains would need to adopt the same deployable step arrangement as HS2’s rolling stock to be compatible with both platform positions. If comparing (a) an HS2 train at an 1115mm HS2 platform and (b) a standard train at a 915mm conventional platform, HS2 Ltd predicts that boarding and disembarking for the HS2 train at the 1115mm platform would be up to 30% quicker than the standard train at the 915mm platform given comparable intercity rolling stock and door arrangements. This is because existing intercity trains require two steps upwards from platform to step, and step to vestibule. HS2 trains and platforms will have near-level boarding with only a shallow ramp from platform to vestibule.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any bids were received from UK-based manufacturers for the HS2 station lift and escalator work to be carried out at (a) Birmingham Curzon Street, (b) Interchange, (c) Old Oak Common and (d) Euston.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The contracts awarded are a framework arrangement for the supply of lifts and escalators at all four Phase One HS2 stations. All of the tenderers for the lifts and escalators framework have a UK base and are UK registered companies.
No UK-based lift or escalator suppliers responded to the Prior Indicative Notice to demonstrate that they had the required capacity to deliver this contract, and this is why the shortlist was comprised of companies which manufacture lifts and escalators outside the UK. The market was made aware of the upcoming contract in March 2019 with engagement through the Lifts and Escalators Industry Association (which consists of 140 UK and worldwide suppliers). This was followed up in April 2020 by the launch of the procurement process via the Publication of Prior Indicative Notice on the Official Journal of the European Union.
In terms of the wider project, an estimated 98% of HS2 contracts have gone to UK based companies.