Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of upgrading the power supply on the East Coast Main Line to ensure that the network is ready for the full roll-out of Class 800 and Class 801 trains.

Network Rail is currently designing a second phase of the power upgrade and the Department expects to receive updated designs and costs in early 2019. The Department will consider the cost for this second power upgrade in line with the new Rail Enhancements Pipeline decision making process published on 20th March.