Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects the electrification of the Great Western Line between London and Swansea will be completed.

Great Western electrification is the biggest and most complex electrification scheme for more than a generation, passing through several World Heritage sites and involving around 15,000 foundations, 14,000 masts, 1,500 signal upgrades and 50 station improvements. Network Rail continues to work towards delivering electrification to agreed timescales.

This is an extremely challenging programme and we are working closely with Network Rail and the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to ensure successful delivery. However, I would reiterate that it is this Government which is working hard on rail electrification compared to the performance of the previous Labour government which managed to electrify just 10 miles over their entire 13 years in office. In addition, in the previous Parliament we also agreed a funding package to deliver the electrification of the Welsh Valley lines.