Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the restoration project of the Don Valley Line between Sheffield and Stocksbridge has entered the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline; at what Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment stage the project is; when approval was granted; and what the likelihood is of the project entering the next stage.

The Don Valley line project has entered the Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline. A Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for this project has been completed by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), with funding from the Restoring Your Railway Ideas Fund. The Department is in the early stages of planning next steps, including delivery timescales for the project. The next PACE stage for the project will be Engineering Stage 1. Work with SYMCA has started to plan and develop the modal and route options for the next stage of work, which will inform the remit for production of an Outline Business Case.