Asked by: Jane Stevenson (Conservative - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans the Government has to make funding available for the development of new railway stations in Wolverhampton.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
We announced the £500m Restoring Your Railway Fund in January 2020 to enable opportunities to reinstate railway services and add new railway stations to the railway network. The Restoring Your Railway Programme is about connecting people and communities. The Ideas Fund is for those schemes that are in an early stage of development and need to explore the options for solving a transport problem.
An idea that can improve a service and provide a solution to a transport problem that involves levelling up the economy is exactly the kind of proposal the Ideas Fund is interested in. For proposals that have moved past the early idea stage, there is also the New Station Fund and Advanced Proposals. For information about how to apply, please refer to this website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/re-opening-beeching-era-lines-and-stations/re-opening-beeching-era-lines-and-stations
Additionally, I am pleased to see that Phase 1 of the new Wolverhampton station has recently been completed, with a contribution of £13.5m from the Local Growth Fund to the overall Wolverhampton Interchange project, including for the tram extension to the station.
Asked by: Jane Stevenson (Conservative - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of using powered two-wheelers as an alternative to public transport during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department’s guidance issued on 12 May refers to “Private cars and other vehicles” as an alternative to using public transport, and encourages the public to “consider all other forms of transport before using public transport”. This would include private vehicles such as motorcycles and mopeds where the journey to be made is appropriate.
In response to COVID-19, we are accelerating and expanding planned trials of rental e-scooters, allowing all areas that want to host trials to do so. We will introduce legislation in June to allow trials to begin.
Asked by: Jane Stevenson (Conservative - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support is available for private coach companies during the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Last month the Chancellor announced £330 billion of guarantees, so businesses, such as coach operators, have access to the funds to pay essential bills. This includes the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which has been extended until the end of June.
The Department has also asked local transport authorities outside London to continue to pay coach operators for home-to-school transport at pre-coronavirus level during the outbreak.