Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) English Devolution and (b) the statutory roles of Mayors on (i) rail freight paths and (ii) access.

The Government wants to bring decision making as close as possible to the communities those decisions impact. That is why we will give mayors a statutory role in governing, managing, planning and developing the Great British Railways (GBR) network.

This will ensure they will be appropriately consulted on GBR’s activity (including the development of railway plans, strategies and services), are able to scrutinise GBR’s performance. GBR will also be required to have due regard to devolved transport strategies.

An enhanced role for mayors will be balanced with GBR's role as the directing mind for the national network. The establishment of GBR will bring together responsibility for managing allocation of capacity and management of the infrastructure. GBR will therefore be able to make the best use of the rail network and provide a seamless service for passengers and freight users.