Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made a recent estimate of the cost of (a) extending MetroWest to the south of Bristol, covering Weston-super-Mare, Taunton, Exeter, Worle and Weston-super-Mare Parkway, (b) providing step-free access across the West of England rail network and (c) completing electrification between Temple Meads, Bristol Parkway and Chippenham.

As part of the £36 billion Network North announcement we have committed £100 million to be made available to the West of England Combined Authority, which may wish to consider its suitability for further expanding the MetroWest network, providing greater step free access and electrification schemes.