Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January to Question 102756 on Railways: Merseyside, if he will publish a list of the benefits referenced in his answer.

Merseyside is set to benefit from the Integrated Rail Plan in terms of both Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) and HS2. Compared to today, capacity between Manchester and Liverpool will more than triple, with journey times to Manchester Piccadilly station cut from 50 to 35 minutes. HS2 services from London to Liverpool will benefit from a segregated route through Warrington, and capacity on the existing route into Liverpool could potentially benefit freight services. Connectivity to Manchester Airport will be transformed, with journey times falling from 71 to 26 minutes and the number of services increased from 1 to 4 trains per hour. Journey times from Warrington to Liverpool will be cut by more than 10 minutes compared to the current fastest service with frequency increasing from a typical 3 trains per hour at present to up to 11.