Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much and what proportion of the total amount of funding dedicated to Leicester within the Integrated Rail Plan is new funding.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Leicester will benefit from the £12.8 billion investment in the HS2 East Core Network which includes a new high-speed line from West Midlands to the East Midlands, Midland Main Line electrification, and upgrades to the East Coast Main Line. This investment is all newly committed funding, and none of it is reallocated from other departments.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding is committed to Leicester within the Integrated Rail Plan.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Leicester will benefit from the £12.8 billion investment in the HS2 East Core Network which includes a new high-speed line from West Midlands to the East Midlands, Midland Main Line electrification, and upgrades to the East Coast Main Line. This investment is all newly committed funding, and none of it is reallocated from other departments.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the £10 billion investment in the Midlands within the Integrated Rail Plan is reallocated funding from other departments.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Leicester will benefit from the £12.8 billion investment in the HS2 East Core Network which includes a new high-speed line from West Midlands to the East Midlands, Midland Main Line electrification, and upgrades to the East Coast Main Line. This investment is all newly committed funding, and none of it is reallocated from other departments.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the £10 billion investment in the Midlands within the Integrated Rail Plan is reallocated funding from prior commitments.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Leicester will benefit from the £12.8 billion investment in the HS2 East Core Network which includes a new high-speed line from West Midlands to the East Midlands, Midland Main Line electrification, and upgrades to the East Coast Main Line. This investment is all newly committed funding, and none of it is reallocated from other departments.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the extent to which Midland Main Line services will speed up journey times for travellers in Leicester and the East Midlands, as pledged in the Integrated Rail Plan.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Electrification of the Midland Main Line will allow reduction of intercity journey times for the East Midlands by enabling HS2 East services to call at cities on the MML route.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the proposed improvements to Leicester station and the accompanying benefits of urban agglomeration.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The regeneration of Leicester Station is a £22.6m project led by Leicester City Council, to be delivered through £17.6m of Government Levelling Up funding and a £5m contribution from the Council. Plans for the Station include transforming the ticket hall, creating a new entrance, and relocating the taxi rank by 2024. This will increase station capacity, drive economic growth and improve passenger experience.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of speeding up the Midland Main Line service for travellers in Leicester and the East Midlands, as pledged in the Integrated Rail Plan; and how much of that cost will be met through new funding.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Journey time improvements for the East Midlands will be delivered through the planned HS2 East Core Network, which has a provision of £12.8bn (2019 prices) within the Integrated Rail Plan. This investment is all newly committed funding, and none of it is reallocated from other departments.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the estimated cost is of decarbonising the Midland Main Line service, including through Leicester, as pledged in the Integrated Rail Plan; and how much of that cost will be met through new funding.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Within the £96 billion set out in the Integrated Rail Plan, £1.4 billion (2019 prices) has been allowed for electrifying the Midland Main Line. This investment is all newly committed funding, and none of it is reallocated from other departments.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the Government's timescale is for electrifying the Midland Main Line service, including Leicester, as pledged in the Integrated Rail Plan.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
As stated in the Integrated Rail Plan, electrification of the Midland Main Line to Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield is currently planned for around 2030.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with local authority leaders in Coventry, Leicester and Nottingham on the potential restoration of a rail link between those cities.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Secretary of State regularly meets with local authority leaders to discuss transport issues in their areas.
Midlands Connect has prepared an Outline Strategic Business Case for the Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham scheme, and I contributed to the launch event for this proposal by video early this year.
The recently published Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) sets out the long-term plan for rail investment in the North of England and the Midlands, the Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham proposal will need to be considered with reference to the recommendations set out in the IRP.