Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 65118 on Railways: North Shropshire, whether her Department plans to provide any additional funding to improve railway services to (a) North Shropshire and (b) Shropshire.

Following the Spending Review both the Chancellor and Secretary Of State have committed to the transformative Midlands Rail Hub programme, which will upgrade connectivity, reliability and provide capacity for hundreds of extra trains per day into Birmingham, including benefits to those stopping at Shrewsbury and Gobowen. Funding was also confirmed to support feasibility studies for works to improve accessibility for all passengers at 50 stations including at Whitchurch in Shropshire.

Later this year the Department will review the case for line speed improvements between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury when the business case is completed. Any funding would be subject to a satisfactory business case which represents value for money, affordability and strong benefits for the country.