Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the contribution of York's rail cluster in digital and advance rail to the rail industry in the UK.

The Government is committed to the future of advanced and digital rail. This is evidenced by our recent commitments to the future of rail, including the Integrated Rail Plan, a £96 billion programme to transform rail services in the North and Midlands.

York remains an important centre of railway expertise, through its long history of rail engineering and as the home to the National Railway Museum, Network Rail’s Eastern Route and the rail operator, LNER. York is also home to the largest Rail Operating Centre in the country and will have operational oversight of the pioneering East Coast Main Line upgrade. I am confident that York will continue to play a key role in helping to shape the railway of the future, through its strong heritage and through its considerable expertise in digital, data and automation.