Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect work on electrifying the rail line between Crewe and Holyhead to start; what estimate they have made of the cost of this work; and when they expect the project to be completed.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are working closely with the rail industry to develop and deliver on the Government priorities outlined in the Prime Minister’s Network North announcement, which includes an unprecedented £1 billion investment to fund the electrification of the North Wales Main Line. We are in the early stages of planning the next steps for the North Wales electrification scheme, including the costs and programme for development and delivery. We will share further information when that work is complete.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve rail connections between England and the north of Scotland.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Cross Border Connectivity is a priority for the Department, the Department is committed to ensuring that passengers are able to travel by rail between England and Scotland.
Investment in timetable improvements and new infrastructure will enable faster and more frequent services on the East Coast Mainline improving rail connections between England and Scotland. Officials from the Department are in contact with their counterparts at Transport Scotland.
LNER provide a daily train service each way – the Highland Chieftain – between Inverness and London King’s Cross serving Aviemore, Perth, Sterling, Edinburgh, Newcastle, York and Peterborough.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Rail Networks Enhancement Pipeline most recently published on 16 October 2019, whether it remains his policy that the Rail Networks Enhancement Pipeline will be published on an annual basis.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Whilst the Government remains committed to investing in rail, as demonstrated by the Prime Minister’s Network North announcement which detailed an unprecedented number of commitments, significant changes to travel patterns after the pandemic and the challenging fiscal environment rightly require reconsideration of the rail infrastructure portfolio.
We understand the interests of stakeholders - industry and local representatives - in the visibility of our forward programme of work. Moving forward we intend to review, with involvement from the supply chain, how best to provide updates on the rail enhancements portfolio.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with the Mayor of (a) Greater Manchester and (b) the West Midlands on steps to improve rail connectivity between Birmingham and Manchester.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State and I met with the Mayors of the West Midlands and Greater Manchester on 31 January to discuss proposals to improve rail connectivity between the West Midlands and Manchester. The position on cancelling HS2 Phase 2 has not changed. We are already getting on with using the savings from HS2 Phase 2 to deliver Network North which will benefit more people in more places more quickly.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps her Department has taken with Network Rail to make Whitchurch railway station fully accessible.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As part of the Prime Minister’s Network North announcement, the Government confirmed £350m of additional funding will be made available to improve the accessibility of stations across Great Britain. We are assessing over 300 nominations for Access for All funding, including a nomination for Whitchurch railway station. If successful, the funding will create an obstacle free, accessible route from the station entrance to platforms. Successful nominations will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to help tackle congestion on the West Coast Main Line.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
HS2 Phase 1 will be delivered between Euston and the West Midlands with a branch to Handsacre, near Lichfield, providing a significant increase in capacity across the busiest section of the West Coast Main Line. In addition, work is underway to consider potential upgrades to Handsacre junction and the broader West Coast Main Line to support the introduction of HS2 services, and improve journeys between London, the West Midlands, the North-West, Scotland and other locations. An upgrade of Handsacre Junction will allow more trains to reach key destinations north of Birmingham. It will have a transformative effect on rail capacity: nearly doubling capacity up to 250,000 seats per day across the primary long-distance operator on the West Coast Main Line and Phase 1 - triple that of the operator’s current estimated average daily demand.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the policy paper entitled Network North, published on 4 October 2023, what the (a) rail network enhancements pipeline status and (b) project acceleration in a controlled environment stage is of the planned upgrades to Haxby Station; and when approval for this project was granted.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Haxby station project is at the Develop stage of the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline. An Outline Business Case has been completed by the City of York Council. The current PACE stage for the Haxby project is Engineering Stage 4, which is being progressed by the City of York Council. Engineering Stage 5 is due to commence later in 2024.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the £139 million investment in Darlington railway station on (a) Darlington and (b) the North East.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Through provision of additional through and bay platforms, the decision to provide £105m of Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline funding to deliver the Darlington Station Enhancements scheme will provide direct benefits to rail users throughout the North-East through journey time and reliability improvements. When combined with complementary investment from Tees Valley Combined Authority – who are delivering a multi-storey car park and public realm improvements – the scheme will also generate wider economic benefits to Darlington.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 71 of the policy paper entitled Network North, published on 4 October 2023, whether the Wellington-Cullompton line has entered the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline; what the project’s Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment stage is; when approval was granted to enter that stage; and whether entry to the next stage will be granted.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Wellington and Cullompton project has entered the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline and is currently working towards completion of Engineering Stage 4. The project will deliver two new stations at Wellington and Cullompton, on the existing Bristol to Exeter line. Contractors have been engaged and work to produce a Full Business Case is expected to be completed in 2024.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Euston Quarter development referred to in Network North, whether that project has entered the Rail network enhancements pipeline; what the project's Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment stage is as of 16 January 2024; when approval was granted to enter that stage; and whether entry to the next stage will be granted.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Following the Network North announcement on 4 October 2023, we are upping the ambition of the Euston redevelopment, to create a transformed ‘Euston Quarter’. We are going to deliver a reduced 6-platform HS2 station, which can accommodate the HS2 trains we will run to Birmingham and onwards and which best supports regeneration of the local area. We will update Parliament on the progress on developing the proposal for the Euston Quarter, including providing updated schedule and costs estimates, through our regular six-monthly reports.
While the new HS2 station and associated ‘Euston Quarter’ development does not form part of the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP), the first phase of the Redevelopment of Euston Conventional Station (RECS) will remain part of the RNEP Portfolio. This first phase of RECS focuses on redeveloping and expanding the existing Network Rail station concourse to meet forecast future demand.