Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what he expects the percentage increase in passenger capacity on the West Coast Mainline to be as a result of High Speed 2.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
HS2 provides a very significant expansion of the rail network's ability to carry passengers and freight, resulting in improvements to rail services throughout the country.
Compared with today's capacity, HS2 will ultimately triple the seats available at Euston during the peak hour. The initial Phase One service plan for HS2 in 2026 doubles seating capacity at Euston during the peak hour, while more than doubling commuter and regional service seating capacity, where the crowding pressure is greatest. HS2 will allow space to be released on the existing network, including the West Coast Mainline to enable regional, commuter and freight traffic to grow, and for a well-planned timetable of other services to places not served by HS2.
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of increases in passenger numbers (a) nationally and (b) on the West Coast Main Line over the next 10 years.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The total train passenger numbers is forecast to grow from an estimated 1,530 million in 2013-14 to 1,842 million by 2023-24.
The Department has made no forecast of increases in passenger numbers on the West Coast Main Line over the next 10 years. Chapter 4 of Network Rail's West Coast Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy sets out anticipated changes in demand to 2024/25 and is available here:
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the average load factor of West Coast Mainline trains leaving London Euston in 2013.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The requested information is not available, however a number of similar statistics relating to 2012 are available via this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/rai02-capacity-and-overcrowding
Average load factors for all services departing Euston can be calculated from the data in Table RA10213.
The percentage of passengers in excess of capacity (PiXC) and the number of passengers standing is given for the 3 hour peaks for all franchised operators in Table RA10215.
Equivalent statistics for 2013 will be available in July 2014.
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2014, Official Report, columns 511-2W, on High Speed 2 railway line, at what URL the March 2012 reports of HS2 Ltd are published; and on what pages of those reports the evidence that led to the decision to route via Crewe rather than Stoke-on-Trent is set out.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The March 2012 report setting out the options that HS2 Ltd considered for Phase Two, and describing the process of analysing and refining them, can be viewed at
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/options-for-phase-two-of-the-high-speed-rail-network
The information relating to Stoke-on-Trent is in section 4.3 (pages 34 to 69).
Further information can also be found in the ‘HS2 Phase Two Engineering Options Report West Midlands to Manchester (parts 1 and 2)' at
Section 7 in part 2 of the report sets out the history of line of route options studied (pages 279 to 283).
Responses to the Phase Two consultation are being considered currently and no decisions have yet been taken on the route. We will make an announcement in the autumn.
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2014, Official Report, columns 511-2W, on High Speed 2 railway line, what calculations were done to demonstrate that alternative schemes would fail to deliver sufficient additional capacity; and what the passenger load factor of High Speed 2 will be as against the passenger load factor of longer trains.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Since 2009 we have considered a wide range of alternative options to a high speed railway including the use of alternative modes, a conventional speed line and upgrades to the existing rail network. The alternatives do not release capacity for commuter and freight services, fail to offer a robust solution to the problem of poor service performance and would significantly disrupt services as upgrade work is carried out.
All of the calculations to demonstrate that alternative schemes would fail to deliver as much capacity as HS2 to address future levels of over-crowding have been published. These are summarised in the Strategic Case for HS2 released in October 2013 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hs2-strategic-case).
From the October 2013 economic case, and for the standard case run, the average all-day load factor for HS2 services in 2036 for the full network is 41%, and accordingly higher during peak periods. Equivalent data for the alternatives has been published in the HS2 Strategic Alternatives Final Report (Atkins, 2013)
(http://assets.hs2.org.uk/sites/default/files/inserts/S%26A%201_Economic%20case_0.pdf).
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2014, Official Report, column 455W, on High Speed 2 railway line, on what basis it has been calculated that the (a) expense of and (b) disruption caused by adopting double-decker carriages on the West Coast Main Line would be greater than that of the construction of High Speed 2.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Since 2009 we have considered a wide range of alternative options to a high speed railway including the use of alternative modes, a conventional speed line and upgrades to the existing rail network. The alternatives do not release capacity for commuter and freight services, fail to offer a robust solution to the problem of poor performance and would significantly disrupt services as upgrade work is carried out.
The March 2010 High Speed 2 Strategic Alternatives Study considered the potential for using double deck trains on WCML as one means of enhancing capacity on conventional rail routes between London and the West Midlands/North West. It found that whilst double decking, and the less expensive alternative of train lengthening, would increase the number of passengers per train there is a practical limit to the expansion of capacity on WCML and only limited opportunity to reduce journey times.
All of the calculations to demonstrate that alternative schemes would fail to deliver as much capacity as HS2 to address future levels of over-crowding have been published. These are summarised in the Strategic Case for HS2 released in October 2013 which can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hs2-strategic-case
Before such trains could be used on the West Coast Mainline, the route (including diversionary routes) would need to be gauge cleared to allow sufficient space for the trains to operate. This would involve raising all overhead wires, raising bridges, modifying platforms on the route, modifying station canopies, moving or raising all signal gantries and other signage on the route, and lowering track in the tunnels. Work would need to be carried out to modify existing depots or to provide new ones. Additional works would also be required to enable line speeds to be maintained on the route.
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to HS2 Plus published on 17 March 2014, on what basis he has decided that the North's integrated station should be Crewe; and what alternative locations were considered.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
We have received over 10,000 responses to the Phase Two consultation. These are still being analysed and considered, and no decisions on the Phase Two route have been taken. We are considering the recommendation on Crewe as part of our response to the Phase Two consultation which will include analysis and consideration of the proposals to reroute the line through Stoke-on-Trent, as well as all other responses to the consultation. I will respond to the consultation on Phase Two later this year.
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will consider rerouting High Speed 2 phase 2 through Stoke-on-Trent rather than Crewe as part of his consideration of the public responses to his Department's consultation.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
We have received over 10,000 responses to the Phase Two consultation. These are still being analysed and considered, and no decisions on the Phase Two route have been taken. We are considering the recommendation on Crewe as part of our response to the Phase Two consultation which will include analysis and consideration of the proposals to reroute the line through Stoke-on-Trent, as well as all other responses to the consultation. I will respond to the consultation on Phase Two later this year.
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether there will be a review of the cost-benefit analysis of High Speed 2 following the decision to revise the High Speed 2 and High Speed 1 link.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
We will continue to revise and update the economic case for HS2 as new project milestones are reached, such as decisions on the preferred route for Phase 2, to ensure it is based on the best available evidence and latest understanding of the project, including taking account of the decision to remove the existing proposals for the HS1-HS2 link from the scheme.