Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the cancellation of much of the HS2 project, whether they will review the design and procurement of the rolling stock to be used on HS2, such that all commissioned new train sets will be able to continue on to the existing rail network.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Hitachi-Alstom joint venture is contracted to manufacture and maintain the HS2 rolling stock for Phase 1 of the project. We will complete Phase 1 of HS2 between Birmingham and London, with a rescoped Euston station. The contracted HS2 trains are designed to be capable of operating on both the existing rail network and new High Speed Rail network. As such a review of network interoperability is not required.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the announcement by HS2 Ltd that £11.5 billion of two-tier contacts have been let by HS2 up to July 2023, what reduction in this total value is expected following the announcement of the cancellation of Phases 2a and 2b of HS2; and what reductions in the scope and value of contracts are planned to reduce the costs of HS2 Phase 1.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport is working with HS2 Ltd and its supply chain to assess the cost implications of the cancellation of HS2 Phases 2a and 2b, including any consequential impacts on Phase One, and will update in due course once these cost assessments have been assured.
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: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether accessible station transfers for disabled passengers and passengers with luggage at Old Oak Common and Euston stations will be re-designed, given that building work on HS2 has been paused between these stations.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are no plans currently to redesign Old Oak Common station where construction is well underway and plans to develop an affordable HS2 Euston station will continue. The HS2 platforms at both stations will support level boarding and step free access from street to the train.
The Great Western Mainline platforms at Old Oak Common have been designed to Network Rail main-line standards. There are challenges in providing level boarding due to the need to accommodate multiple types of passenger and freight rolling stock. However, officials are engaged with Transport for London to assess the viability of possible technical solutions.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to put out to full tender the development of the HS2 Euston station, approach tracks and tunnel to Old Oak Common.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The exact design of the model to be used, how it is taken to market, as well as how and where the alternative funding generated by this will be spent, is commercially sensitive and still subject to further work to ensure we are optimising funding and delivery.
There will be a range of options within this that are still being considered and will require more time to develop before a final proposal is determined. Creating an alternative financing model that delivers value for money for the taxpayer will take time to develop.
The Government’s ambition remains to make best use of funding from alternative sources to enable delivery of the whole project and to ensure that funding is underpinned by contributions from those people and businesses this development supports. Options for using this alternative funding to cover the costs of the tunnel between Old Oak Common and Euston are also being considered.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the latest estimated cost for the construction of HS2 from the Eastern end of Old Oak Common station and the proposed six platform HS2 Euston station.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Following the Network North announcement, the scope and cost estimates for this section of the route are subject to review. An updated cost will be reported to Parliament in due course, noting that we are seeking to strip back the project scope and deliver a station that works, but does not include any features we do not need.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of expected journey times between the HS2 station at Old Oak Common and Tottenham Court Road Underground station via (1) the planned HS2 station at Euston and the Northern line, and (2) the Elizabeth line.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We do not have modelled journey times from Old Oak Common to Tottenham Court Road as requested. The nearest station for which we have estimated journey times is Bond Street (see table below), with journey times broadly similar by either route . Estimated journey times comprise in-vehicle time, wait time and walking time.
Destination | From Old Oak Common via Elizabeth Line | From Old Oak Common via Euston on HS2 |
Bond Street | 24.8 mins | 24.6 mins |
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to remove the safeguarding protections from land or properties covered by HS2 Phases 2A and 2B; whether they will offer any acquired properties or land back for sale to previous owners and, if so, at what price; and what steps they will take to remedy any HS2-related work that has already commenced on any such land or properties.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Phase 2a safeguarding will be formally lifted in weeks and Phase 2b safeguarding will be amended by the summer of next year, to allow for any safeguarding needed for Northern Powerhouse Rail. In the meantime, we will take steps to begin to lift the blighting effect of HS2 in areas where safeguarding is going to be lifted.
Where any land or property has been acquired compulsorily or via statutory blight and is no longer required, it will be sold subject to the Crichel Down Rules. These require government departments, under certain circumstances, to offer back surplus land to the former owner or the former owner’s successors at the current market value. All land and property will be assessed prior to disposal.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government who were the accounting officers responsible for HS2 at (1) the Department for Transport, and (2) HS2 Ltd, for the period from 1 January 2009 to the present.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Accounting Officers at the Department for Transport and Chief Executives at HS2 Ltd from 1 January 2009 to the present are as follows:
HS2 Ltd
DfT
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of whether service operators of vessels at UK ports should be able to deny boarding to any person representing a potential or actual business competitor of that operator.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Service operators decide the conditions on which their services are provided. Operators including general passenger vessels are subject to relevant consumer and anti-discrimination law, which their terms of business should comply with.