Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress she has made on the East Coast Digital Programme.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
1) There are no current plans to construct a new East Coast Main Line (ECML) station at Alconbury Weald. The Department recognises the importance of the ECML and is starting work with Network Rail and industry stakeholders on development of a long-term strategy of investment for the route.
2) The following progress has been made on the East Coast Digital Programme. In May 2025, the first phase of the scheme was complete with the removal of conventional lineside signals, and all services using digital signalling on the Northern City Line (NCL) between Finsbury Park and Moorgate. This is the first no signals commuter railway in the country, and first of any kind since the early Cambrian Line pilot in 2011. 100,000 services have now operated on NCL using digital signalling.
The infrastructure between Welwyn and Hitchin has been upgraded for the first European Train Control System (ETCS) section on the ECML. In line with the approach taken on NCL, the Welwyn to Hitchin section will initially operate as an overlay (i.e. able to operate with both conventional and digital signalling) to facilitate driver conversion training. The work is being led by Network Rail who, subject to the necessary assurances and regulatory processes, anticipate being able to begin driver train using digital signalling through that section from summer 2026.
3) Work to implement the ETCS on the East Coast Mainline between Huntingdon and Kings Cross is scheduled to be completed in the early 2030s.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve rail services on the East Coast Main Line.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has invested £4bn in route-wide upgrades – including new trains and improvements to platforms, tracks, signals and junctions.
This will deliver journey time, reliability and capacity improvements, with more than 60,000 extra seats across the route each week, faster services between London and Edinburgh, and London to Leeds, and a third train per hour to and from London and Newcastle. This will all form part of the new timetable in December.
The Department are now working closely with Network Rail and industry stakeholders to develop a long-term strategy for the route.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the LNER timetable on (a) the local economy, (b) tourism, and (c) connectivity in the Scottish Borders.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As the new East Coast Main Line timetable has been developed, both the Department and the operators, including LNER, TransPennine Express and CrossCountry, have considered the effect on local economies and tourism along the route. This includes the Scottish Borders area, where extra services and stops have been introduced in the last few years to maintain connectivity in advance of the London services being revised this December, and further Scottish Border local services will be introduced in December.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority's Annual Report 2024–25, published on 11 August 2025, for what reason no evaluation was completed for the East Coast Mainline programme.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has continued to work closely with Network Rail and industry stakeholders on development of the recast East Coast Main Line timetable, planned for introduction this December. This timetable will realise the benefits of the investment made through the Enhancements Programme, and so discussions are ongoing with the Department’s Research and Evaluation team, and NISTA, to develop a suitable Evaluation Plan for the Programme once the final details of the timetable have been formally confirmed.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make it her policy to start building a third track between York and Skelton Junction during this Parliament.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has worked extensively with Network Rail and stakeholders on development and design of a scheme to deliver a third line between York North Throat and Skelton Junction. As the broader strategic benefits of the project would only be realised as part of a wider package of investment on the East Coast Main Line, the decision was taken at the Spending Review to pause the project until a long-term strategy for the route can be developed further. The scheme will remain under review to ensure it can be delivered in the most effective way as part of a holistic strategy of investment.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what upgrades will take place as part of the East Coat Mainline Programme in Huntingdon constituency.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has invested £1.2bn in a package of route-wide infrastructure upgrades as part of the East Coast Main Line Enhancements Programme, the benefits of which are due to be realised through introduction of a recast timetable in this December, which will provide more frequent and faster services across the route. Following the conclusion of the Spending Review, the Department is also working closely with Network Rail and industry stakeholders to develop options for a long-term pipeline of investment on the East Coast Mainline. This work will consider Network Rail’s assessment of the congested infrastructure on the route – including those identified between Huntingdon North Junction and New England North Junction – and explore opportunities to mitigate these constraints.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve punctuality and service quality on the East Coast Mainline.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department has invested £1.2 billion in route-wide upgrades across the East Coast Main Line (ECML) as part of the ECML Enhancements Programme. These investments will deliver significant improvements in journey times, reliability, and capacity, which will be realised through the introduction of the major timetable change in December 2025.
In addition, a further £105 million has been allocated to a package of enhancements at Darlington Station. Once completed by the end of the year, these works will support improved performance and reliability for passenger services across the northern section of the route.
The December 2025 major East Coast Upgrade Timetable will deliver a range of benefits, including:
Faster Anglo-Scottish journeys operated by LNER and Lumo
An additional hourly LNER service between London and Newcastle
Over 60,000 extra seats per week between London and Newcastle
Improved connectivity across East Coast Main Line stations
Increased local services north of Newcastle
Additional services between Newcastle and Reading, enhancing both capacity and connectivity
New trains operating between Sheffield and Leeds
Faster commuter services on the Cambridge line, supporting a full service at the new Cambridge South station
Provision for new services linking Middlesbrough, Sunderland, and Newcastle, as well as Nottingham and Lincoln
To ensure successful implementation, an industry readiness taskforce is in place to support the delivery of the new timetable from day one with a focus on maintaining high performance standards across the route.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which technologies will deliver improved wifi access on the East Coast Main Line.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department continues to work closely with Network Rail and industry to look at solutions to improve connectivity on trains, which includes rolling out rail 5G on the rail network.
Following the spending review, funding has been made available to invest in low earth orbit satellite connectivity, to improve passenger mobile connectivity. We also continue to work closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to develop further interventions on the railway.
The department has been working with Network Rail to deliver improved connectivity on the rail corridor. Project Reach, which will renew fibre optic cables & address signals in mainline tunnels and stations was signed 26 June 2025 between Network Rail, and telecoms companies, Neos Networks and Freshwave .
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 34050 on Railway Stations: Alconbury Weald, whether Network Rail plan to proceed with the proposed new East Coast Mainline Station at Alconbury Weald.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The outcomes from the Spending Review for East Coast Main Line investment are still being finalised but will be communicated shortly as part of the government’s commitment to set out its overall infrastructure strategy.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason LNER has withdrawn its London to Sunderland services from the East Coast Main Line timetable.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)