Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reconfiguring the South Wales Mainline so that inter-city services can be separated from commuter services; and if he will make a statement.

On 21 August the Secretary of State announced a £343m package of investment in railway infrastructure in Wales. This includes the development of a scheme to upgrade the relief lines between the Severn Tunnel and Cardiff to provide greater capacity and more flexibility for passenger services on this part of the route. I have asked Network Rail to look for opportunities to accelerate this development work as much as possible.