Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which projects in the Network North scheme are funded (a) partly and (b) wholly by his Department.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The majority of the projects included in Network North are fully funded by the Department, such as the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements. For others such as most schemes in the current round of the Major Road Network programme, we are expanding the existing DfT funding from 85% to 100%, subject to successful business case approval.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the implementation of the Integrated Rail Plan; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Significant progress has been made since we published the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP).
Delivery of High Speed Two (HS2) between London and the West Midlands is well underway. I reported on the programme’s latest construction milestones in my 6-monthly update to Parliament in June, such as the circa 14.5 miles driven by HS2’s tunnel boring machines. In parallel, the High Speed Rail (Crewe to Manchester) Bill was introduced into Parliament in January 2022. Select Committee members have been appointed and the committee is hearing petitions against the bill and its additional provisions.
In partnership with Network Rail and HS2 Ltd, feasibility work on Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) is being completed, with formal development to follow. Around £2 billion of NPR scope has already been included in the High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Bill and the Transpennine Route Upgrade has been augmented to include scope for NPR.
The Government has approved over £2.9 billion of funding for the Transpennine Route Upgrade – which includes the current work between Manchester and Stalybridge. The total cost of the TRU programme is estimated to be between £9.0bn and £11.5bn. This is the first step towards improving train services between major areas in the North of England by the middle of this decade as well as laying the groundwork for the NPR system.
In 2022, we started the main works to electrify the Midland Mainline between Kettering and Market Harborough, laying the foundation for the planned upgrade of the line to Nottingham and Sheffield.
On the 17 July 2023, the DfT published the HS2 to Leeds Study terms of reference. In our response to the Transport Select Committee, we also committed to reconsidering the case for better connectivity at Bradford, including the potential for a new station.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing railway station platform lengths.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Extending station platforms can bring a number of benefits including the ability for operators to run longer trains and provide more space on board for passengers. Longer platforms also provide more platform space to enable passengers to board and alight from trains which can help reduce delays by speeding up the boarding process.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of capacity at Leeds railway station.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Leeds is one of the busiest stations in the North of England and a key regional hub, with c30m passengers using it each year. It is also one of the UK’s most congested rail centres and regularly suffers from overcrowding.
In February 2023, the Department approved £36.4m of funding for Network Rail to complete detailed design work on the Leeds Existing Station Programme (LESP), which aims to resolve critical station capacity issues and build resilience to accommodate future rail programmes. We expect to receive a Full Business Case for the scheme by the end of 2024.
The Department is also working with Network Rail to increase capacity at Leeds Station through a Leeds Area Improvement Programme. This is a rolling programme involving platform, track, and signalling infrastructure that will further increase capacity, resilience and performance for the benefit of the overall passenger service.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of capacity at Manchester Piccadilly railway station.
Answered by Huw Merriman
This government set up the Manchester Task Force to assess the issues in Manchester and deliver a track and train strategy to improve services for the passenger. The Task Force assessed the capacity and performance at Manchester Piccadilly as part of the development of the December 2022 timetable. The successful implementation of this timetable, which has significantly reduced delays within Manchester, is the first phase in the programme. Last month this government announced a further £72m infrastructure package around Manchester Victoria to make train journeys for passengers more reliable in Greater Manchester. I look forward to receiving further business cases, including interventions at Manchester Airport, Oxford Road and the modernisation of the Liverpool to Manchester route via Warrington Central in the foreseeable future.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of capacity at Sheffield railway station.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Department has recently remitted Network Rail £3.5m as part of the Sheffield Station Capacity scheme, to assess the viability of extending platforms 2c and 7 and providing a turnback to the north at platform 6, along with associated track works, to improve the capacity and resilience of Sheffield station. If Network Rail consider there is a viable proposition, they will submit a Decision to Deliver later in 2023 to be considered by the Department. Network Rail is also considering the case for a longer-term rail study for the Sheffield area.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Minister for Veterans' Affairs has had discussions with ministerial colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on taking steps to ensure veterans injured from service are entitled to blue badges.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
People who have served in the Armed Forces qualify automatically for a Blue Badge if they receive a War Pensioner's Mobility Supplement or if they have been both awarded a lump sum benefit at tariffs 1-8 of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and certified as having a permanent and substantial disability which causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking. Other veterans who do not qualify automatically for a badge may still be eligible and should apply to their local authority in the normal way.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish (a) a list of current invitees to meetings of the Northern Transport Acceleration Council and (b) the number of meetings since 1 January 2022.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Since 1 January 2022 the Northern Transport Acceleration Council held one full plenary meeting on 23 May 2022, to discuss the UK Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy.
Core membership of NTAC consists of the transport ministers, northern metro mayors, the leaders of northern transport authorities, as well as the Chief Executives of Network Rail, Highways England and HS2 Ltd. and the chair of the NP11.
Ministers are currently reviewing the format and structure of regular engagement in the north, including the role to be played by the Northern Transport Acceleration Council given its overlap with Transport for the North.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's planned timeframe is for electrifying the Midland mainline to Sheffield.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The next phase of MML electrification is already underway with overhead line equipment being installed between Kettering and Wigston.
We continue the development of HS2 East, for which MML electrification is essential. We intend to publish the RNEP shortly which will confirm the latest position on all Network Rail schemes including electrification of the MML to Sheffield and Nottingham.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on bus services that have been terminated by bus operators in England since 2010.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The Department does not hold this information.