Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2024 to Question 15333 on High Speed 2 Line, what assumptions were made on the potential services that could run north of Birmingham to provide the evidential basis for the statement that the new plan for HS2 will result in nearly doubling capacity up to 250,000 seats per day across the primary long-distance operator on the West Coast Main Line and Phase 1.

The Department is currently working on the requirement to develop a new train service specification for HS2 and West Coast Mainline services following the Prime Minister’s Network North announcement. The Department has committed to publish the Phase 1 Updated Business Case which will be based on an indicative train service specification and associated capacity in 2024.

Any train service included in the business case will be indicative for modelling and planning purposes. Decisions on the train service that will run when HS2 is operational will made in due course and be subject to consultation.