Asked by: Ed Miliband (Labour - Doncaster North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the calculation of £1 billion savings identified on the new High Speed 2 M18/Eastern route which travels through Doncaster includes the upgrading to the existing line north of Sheffield Midland Station to form the northern loop; and what estimate he has made of the cost of that upgrade.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The estimated saving reflects expected costs relating to a junction to the north of Sheffield which would result in Sheffield Midland being served by a "loop". The cost saving does not reflect the cost of electrifying the section of the classic network to the north of Sheffield, which is assumed to be done before HS2 services commence. Electrifying the route to a northern junction back onto HS2 could be the first step in delivering a Northern Powerhouse network, creating the opportunity to connect Sheffield city centre with Leeds, York and Newcastle.
Asked by: Ed Miliband (Labour - Doncaster North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to figure 17 of his Department's publication, High Speed 2: from Crewe to Manchester, the West Midlands to Leeds and beyond, Cm 9355, whether journey time benefits for journeys from Sheffield Midland Station to Birmingham and Leeds include the upgrading of the existing line north of Sheffield Midland Station to form the northern loop.
Answered by Andrew Jones
As stated in the publication High Speed 2: from Crewe to Manchester, the West Midlands to Leeds and beyond, journey times on HS2 from Sheffield to Leeds and Birmingham are indicative estimates. The journey time benefits shown for Sheffield to Birmingham are estimated for services using the southern connection from the Eastern Leg of HS2 into Sheffield Midland station; journey times for Sheffield to Leeds are estimated for services using an electrified existing line north of Sheffield Midland and a connection back onto the Eastern Leg of HS2, forming the ‘loop’.
Asked by: Ed Miliband (Labour - Doncaster North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to figure 17 of his Department's publication, High Speed 2: from Crewe to Manchester, the West Midlands to Leeds and beyond, Cm 9355, whether the stated journey time benefits in the HS2 Phase B: Command Paper (Figure 17) for journeys from Sheffield Midland Station to Birmingham and Leeds include the upgrading of the existing line north of Sheffield Midland station to form the northern loop.
Answered by Andrew Jones
As stated in the publication High Speed 2: from Crewe to Manchester, the West Midlands to Leeds and beyond, journey times on HS2 from Sheffield to Leeds and Birmingham are indicative estimates. The journey time benefits shown for Sheffield to Birmingham are estimated for services using the southern connection from the Eastern Leg of HS2 into Sheffield Midland station; journey times for Sheffield to Leeds are estimated for services using an electrified existing line north of Sheffield Midland and a connection back onto the Eastern Leg of HS2, forming the ‘loop’.
Asked by: Ed Miliband (Labour - Doncaster North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how (a) many High Speed 2 trains per hour and (b) how long those trains would have been that served Meadowhall station under the route proposal previous to the present proposal.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Our assumption was that for the previous proposal for serving South Yorkshire using Meadowhall station, up to two High Speed 2 trains per hour would have served Meadowhall to and from London and up to three to and from Birmingham. This is shown in HS2 Ltd’s Economic Case for Phase 2b (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hs2-phase-2b-crewe-to-manchester-west-midlands-to-leeds-economic-case, Appendix 2, p.42). These trains were assumed to be 200m trains apart from one London service of 400m.
Asked by: Ed Miliband (Labour - Doncaster North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how (a) many High Speed 2 trains per hour and (b) long those trains will be that will serve Sheffield Midland on the basis of the new route proposal on the M18/Eastern route.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Our current assumption is that up to two High Speed 2 trains per hour will serve Sheffield Midland to and from London and up to two further trains per hour to and from Birmingham which would require an additional northern junction. This is shown in HS2 Ltd’s Economic Case for Phase 2b (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hs2-phase-2b-crewe-to-manchester-west-midlands-to-leeds-economic-case, Appendix 2, p.44). These trains are assumed to be 200m trains.
Asked by: Ed Miliband (Labour - Doncaster North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many properties in Yorkshire are directly affected by the new High Speed 2 route proposal on the M18/Eastern route; and how many such properties were directly affected by the previous Meadowhall route.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Direct property impacts along the proposed M18/Eastern route would be around 51. The comparable figure for a Meadowhall route would be around 127.