Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the changes to the HS2 project on East West Rail.

East West Rail (EWR) Connection Stage 1 (providing services between Oxford-Bletchley and Milton Keynes) is in construction and is due to enter into service by 2025. The East West Rail Alliance continues to work closely with HS2 Ltd to ensure the interfaces between the schemes are well understood and any shared risks mitigated.

EWR Connection Stages 2/3 are in development and will be subject to statutory consultation and DCO application.

No change has been made to the programme as a result of the Network North announcement.