Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the three options for Northern Powerhouse Rail identified by Transport for the North on (a) the economy, (b) train reliability and performance, (c) the environment, (d) the residual value of investments and (e) location decisions of (i) households and (ii) businesses.

As set out in the Autumn Statement last week, Government is committed to delivering the Northern Powerhouse Rail core network as outlined in the Integrated Rail Plan.

The Government carefully assessed the three proposals presented by Transport for the North last year. Updated analysis will continue to be included in future business cases where relevant, and we intend to respond to the Transport Select Committee’s recommendations by March,