Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much additional capacity the cancelled HS2 Eastern Leg and Northern Powerhouse Rail plans would have added to the network, by route.

The Integrated Rail Plan sets out the capacity improvements that the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) core network from Liverpool to York will deliver. These capacity improvements equal those in previous proposals from Transport for the North, with over a 500% increase on journeys from Liverpool to Leeds alone.

The IRP also confirms that a new HS2 line will be built from Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway, which will deliver more capacity to Nottingham and Derby compared to previous plans, and the same capacity uplift to Chesterfield and Sheffield. Upgrades to the East Coast Main Line will deliver similar or more capacity from London and Birmingham to the North East compared to previous plans, and potentially more capacity to places from London that did receive benefit under previous plans, such as Wakefield, Doncaster, Grantham and Peterborough. Leeds capacity will depend on decisions reached following the development work to assess the most effective way to take HS2 trains to Leeds for which the Government is providing £100m.