Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2024 to Question 15333 on High Speed 2 Line, what assumptions were made on the potential services that could run north of Birmingham to provide the evidential basis for the statement that the new plan for HS2 will result in 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.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department is currently working on the requirement to develop a new train service specification for HS2 and West Coast Mainline services following the Prime Minister’s Network North announcement. The Department has committed to publish the Phase 1 Updated Business Case which will be based on an indicative train service specification and associated capacity in 2024.
Any train service included in the business case will be indicative for modelling and planning purposes. Decisions on the train service that will run when HS2 is operational will made in due course and be subject to consultation.
Asked by: Jack Brereton (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the value engineering report for the design of the proposed Handsacre Junction of HS2.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
There have been no value engineering reports on Handsacre junction since Network North. Previous decisions to change the design of Handsacre junction were made to reduce costs and disruption for passengers on the West Coast Main Line during construction, which was value for money given the previous plan to deliver Phase 2a on an accelerated timeframe would have resulted in the use of the junction for more than 1 train per hour in each direction only for a very short period.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 24 of his Department's publication entitled Network North: transforming British transport, CP 946, published on 4 October 2023, what the evidential basis is for the statement that the new plan for HS2 will result in 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.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The estimated increased seat capacity across the primary long-distance operator on the West Coast Main Line and HS2 set out in the Network North publication was based on illustrative assumptions about the potential services that could run across existing and new infrastructure once HS2 Phase 1 is brought into service.
This assumed 3 HS2 trains per hour running between London and Birmingham with additional capacity at peak hours, and assumptions on potential services which could run north of Birmingham. The latter are now being further refined through work with industry partners.
No final decisions have been made on the train service that will run when HS2 opens. These will be made in due course and be subject to consultation, taking advice from the industry. These considerations will include passenger and freight services available on the West Coast Main Line from released capacity.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral contribution of the Prime Minister at Prime Minister's Questions on 24 January 2024, Official Report, column 296, what plans his Department has to improve Preston railway station; and what his planned timeline is for those improvements.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Following the Network North announcement, work is underway to consider potential upgrades to the West Coast Main Line, including improvements to Preston station, to support the introduction of High-Speed Services and improve journeys between London, the West Midlands, the North-West and Scotland. My officials are working with industry partners to review options.
Asked by: Jack Brereton (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on (a) whether any issues were identified during the testing of new Hitachi AT300 rolling stock to replace Voyager on Avanti West Coast services, (b) whether an assessment has been made of the potential effect of the lack of tilt mechanism for those trains on (i) maintaining safe operation around bends at speed, (ii) journey times and (iii) rail timetables and (c) for what reason the tender for the rolling stock replacement for Voyager on Avanti West Coast services did not specify the inclusion of a tilt mechanism.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The procurement, safety risk assessment, and safe operation of the Hitachi AT300 rolling stock is the responsibility of the operator. When running rolling stock procurements, operators take account of factors such as what products are available to the market, reliability, operating cost, passenger capacity, comfort and environmental performance. Network Rail is currently upgrading infrastructure on parts of the West Coast Main Line to allow higher speed running with non-tilting trains. The Office of Rail and Road is responsible for ensuring the new trains meet rail safety regulatory requirements before they can operate on the mainline.
The Department is looking forward to the introduction of Avanti West Coast's brand new Hitachi rolling stock later this year which will replace its current diesel fleet in line with the Department's goal to run a more sustainable railway, resulting in a 61 per cent cut in carbon emissions, as well as offering more space and a quieter journey for passengers.
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: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will grant an immediate emergency exemption of at least six months to allow West Coast Rail company to make a new application for a new exemption certificate.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The decisions on issuing exemptions from safety requirements, including the Railway Safety Regulations 1999, are a matter for the Office of Rail and Road, in its capacity as the independent regulator for rail safety. The Department has no powers to issue exemptions from the safety requirements itself.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to amend the specifications of the parts of HS2 that have not been cancelled to allow train sets currently operating on the existing West Coast Main Line network to operate on all remaining parts of the HS2 line.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Due to different technical standards, there are currently no plans to amend the HS2 infrastructure to support trains that currently run on the conventional network.
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 Answer of 23 October 2023 to Question 203073 on Railways: Greater Manchester, whether funding for Network North will be allocated to track upgrades on the West Coast Mainline.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
High Speed 2 (HS2) will now be delivered between Euston in central London and the West Midlands as planned, with a branch to Handsacre, near Lichfield, where there is a plan for HS2 services to travel to Liverpool, Manchester and Scotland via the West Coast Main Line (WCML). Following the announcement of Network North, the Department is also working with industry to develop the plan for a train service to maximise the use of the WCML. Network Rail will also consider the implications of Network North for the West Coast Main Line when planning its future operations, maintenance and renewals.
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 Answer of 25 October 2023 to Question 203071 on West Coast Main Line, how much and what proportion of the 250,000 additional seat capacity will be on (a) the West Coast Mainline and (b) HS2 Phase 1.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The exact number of additional seats and the split between services will not be known until decisions are made on the train service when HS2 opens.