Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Statement of Funds Available for Control Period 6, published on 12 October 2017, how much of the £47.9 billion of Network Rail expenditure will be allocated to investment in the upgrade of the East Coast Main Line.

The Statement of Funds Available set out that we assumed expenditure of £47.9bn across the network for Control Period 6. This funding is to be focused on delivering what passengers and businesses want: a dependable railway, with an increased focus on punctuality and reliability. It also includes funding to continue to take forward the enhancements that now span both Control Period 5 (CP5: 2014-2019) and CP6, including to improve capacity and reduce journey times on the East Coast.

We need to ensure investment best addresses the needs of passengers and freight, and that funding commitments appropriately reflect the stage of development of enhancements.

We will confirm through the new process for enhancements the precise levels of funding to achieve these outcomes and will confirm the specific infrastructure enhancements committed at which stage in due course.