Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason the Whole Industry Strategic Plan call for evidence states that any responses that focus solely on request for new investments or enhancements will not be considered.

We are keen to ensure that responses focus on the long term strategic opportunities for rail to support wider priorities such as Levelling Up and the environment, therefore we are advising respondents to respond to this call for evidence on the basis of outcomes and identify areas where intervention may help meet those goals, rather than suggest specific schemes or interventions. We will continue to consider specific potential enhancement schemes in line with the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline, alongside this call for evidence and, in due course, informed by the Whole Industry Strategic Plan.