Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the estimated cost is of the Northern Powerhouse core route between Manchester Piccadilly and Liverpool Lime Street stations.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As set out in the Network North Command paper, up to £12 billion in 2023 prices has been retained to deliver NPR scope between Manchester and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne. The funding has not been disaggregated further.
Work on the NPR scheme between Liverpool and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, is currently at strategic scheme development stage. This work is being carried out in line with WMS of 25 March, which set out that Northern Powerhouse Rail will develop a route that is in favour of serving Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester Airport and will use the previously proposed route between the parish of Millington and Rostherne and Manchester. A formal consultation on the remainder of the preferred route is expected to take place in due course.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an estimate of the cost of (a) lengthening the Manchester East tunnel by 259 metres and (b) other parts of the new gyratory road junction at J6 of the M56 at Q3 2019 prices; and whether those changes are planned to be implemented as part of the Northern Powerhouse Rail core route.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The government is seeking to adapt the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) only, removing scope south of the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, which was included only for HS2. A motion to formalise the point of truncation will be brought to the House and a supplementary environmental statement will be produced.
As set out in the Network North Command paper, £12 billion in 2023 prices has been retained to deliver NPR scope between Manchester and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne. The funding has not been disaggregated further.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the estimated cost is of the proposed Manchester Metrolink infrastructure in the High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The government is seeking to adapt the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) only, removing scope south of the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, which was included only for HS2. A motion to formalise the point of truncation will be brought to the House and a supplementary environmental statement will be produced.
As set out in the Network North Command paper, up to £12 billion in 2023 prices has been retained to deliver NPR scope between Manchester and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne. The funding has not been disagregated further.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the proposed HS2 station at Manchester Airport will be constructed according to the design set out in the High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill; and what the estimated cost of the construction is.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The government is seeking to adapt the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) only, removing scope south of the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, which was included only for HS2. A motion to formalise the point of truncation will be brought to the House and a supplementary environmental statement will be produced.
As set out in the Network North Command paper, up to £12 billion in 2023 prices has been retained to deliver NPR scope between Manchester and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne. The funding has not been disagregated further.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Arpley Chord will be used to connect the Northern Powerhouse Rail core route to the West Coast Mainline; and how much budget has been allocated to upgrade that line.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Work on the NPR scheme between Liverpool and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne is currently at strategic scheme development stage. This work is being carried out in line with the favoured calling points set out in the WMS of 25 March, to include new platforms at Warrington Bank Quay. We are keen to understand Warrington Borough Council’s priorities and to ensure views on the priorities and any alternatives are understood.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish plans for the proposed (a) upgrade, (b) electrification and (c) provision for use by freight trains to access the Fiddlers Ferry line of the Warrington to Stockport line between Thelwall and Warrington Bank Quay; and how much budget has been allocated for that route.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Work on the NPR scheme between Liverpool and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne is currently at strategic scheme development stage. This work is being carried out in line with the favoured calling points set out in the WMS of 25 March, to include new platforms at Warrington Bank Quay. We are keen to understand Warrington Borough Council’s priorities and to ensure views on the priorities and any alternatives are understood.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Northern Powerhouse Rail will include a six-platform surface turnback station at Manchester Piccadilly; and what the estimated cost of that station is.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The government is seeking to adapt the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) only, removing scope south of the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, which was included only for HS2. A motion to formalise the point of truncation will be brought to the House and a supplementary environmental statement will be produced.
As set out in the Network North Command paper, £12 billion in 2023 prices has been retained to deliver NPR scope between Manchester and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne. The funding has not been disaggregated further.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of passengers that have passed through Stone, Staffordshire on trains since 2009.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department holds entry/exit data for passengers using Stone train station on a financial year basis. The number of passengers entering/exiting Stone station grew from 48,054 in 2009-10 to 214,040 in 2022-23. Whilst West Midlands Trains has been the operator since 2017, any data prior to this relates to London Midland.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to take steps to regulate the frequency of bus services.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Government recognises that frequent bus services are vital and has invested to protect them. How frequently bus services operate is a local decision and the responsibility of bus operators and Local Transport Authorities. While Enhanced Partnerships can place upper limits on frequencies, LTAs can subsidise frequency increases above the service levels provided commercially to meet local need. Since 2020, we have invested over £3.5 billion in buses, including a recently announced further £300 million to protect and enhance services from July 2023 to April 2025. Following the redirection of HS2 funding, on 23 October the government announced over £250 million will be allocated to local authorities in the Midlands to improve bus services.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that the costs of charging electric vehicles in public places remain affordable.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has recently laid regulations to improve the consumer experience across the public charging network. The regulations will ensure that pricing information is transparent, payment methods are simplified, charge points are reliable and public charge point data is freely available for consumers.
Through these regulations, the Government will ensure that drivers can get value for money by comparing prices across different public charge points through a single format of pence per kilowatt hour, similar to pence per litre of fuel.
Overall, in many cases electric vehicle drivers can benefit from savings on the cost of fuel compared to conventional combustion engines.