Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Government's decision not to proceed with the HS2 rail extension to Leeds on commuters from North Wales.

The Eastern Leg of HS2 as previously planned would have gone from the West Midlands to Leeds via the East Midlands. Given the geography of the line, the impact of changes to the route upon commuters in North Wales will be minimal as the new proposed route will go from the West to East Midlands with upgrades to the existing rail network to allow high speed services to reach Nottingham and Sheffield (via Derby and Chesterfield) and a further study of how best HS2 services could reach Leeds.

We will build the Western Leg of HS2 as previously planned, which will allow the Crewe Hub to be realised,helping enhance connectivity to much of the West Midlands, Cheshire and North Wales not directly served by HS2.