Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of (a) signalling safety, (b) service reliability and (c) maintenance on the West Coast Mainline.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is clear that performance on the West Coast Main Line has not been good enough with too many cancellations and delays.
Ministers recently met with the Managing Director of Avanti West Coast and the Network Rail West Coast South Route Director to challenge them on poor performance and demand immediate action to deliver urgent improvements relating to service reliability. Ministers will be meeting them again next month to follow-up and to ensure progress.
In their capacity as the independent safety regulator, the Office of Rail and Road has not raised any concerns regarding signalling safety on the West Coast Mainline.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department plans to take to (a) improve connectivity between the North and the Midlands, (b) increase capacity on the West Coast Main Line and (c) utilise Crewe as a transport hub.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Transport is an essential part of our mission to rebuild Britain, and this Government is committed to delivering infrastructure that works for the whole country.
We are currently considering options on future rail infrastructure, including how we best support economic growth in the North and Midlands and tackle issues on the West Coast Main Line.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Avanti West Coast train executive in relation to their performance in maintaining scheduled direct passenger services between (1) London and Holyhead, and (2) London and Wrexham.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
Avanti West Coast (AWC) has made significant progress in recovering from recent poor reliability and punctuality, but we are clear that performance is still not good enough and there is more to do. Officials continue to closely monitor and review AWC’s progress to a sustained recovery, restoring services reliably on the West Coast Main Line and delivering good value for the taxpayer. Officials regularly meet with AWC senior management to review performance and we will always hold AWC to account for matters within its control.
Over the next few months AWC is working to introduce a brand-new fleet of bi-mode Hitachi trains offering more space and a quieter journey for passengers along the North Wales mainline.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to expediting the application by Virgin Trains to run a service on the West Coast Main Line; and when they intend to announce their decision.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
We note with interest the reports in the media about the application from Virgin Trains, and welcome open access applications where they provide improved connectivity and choice for passengers and do not disproportionately impact taxpayers. Access to the rail network, however, is ultimately a decision for the Office of Rail and Road in its role as independent regulator for the rail industry. The Department therefore awaits further engagement from the ORR and Network Rail on Virgin’s proposals and will provide its views as part of the relevant industry consultation, as is standard process for all open access applications.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2024 to Question 15333 on High Speed 2 Line, what assumptions were made on the potential services that could run north of Birmingham to provide the evidential basis for the statement that the new plan for HS2 will result in nearly doubling capacity up to 250,000 seats per day across the primary long-distance operator on the West Coast Main Line and Phase 1.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Department is currently working on the requirement to develop a new train service specification for HS2 and West Coast Mainline services following the Prime Minister’s Network North announcement. The Department has committed to publish the Phase 1 Updated Business Case which will be based on an indicative train service specification and associated capacity in 2024.
Any train service included in the business case will be indicative for modelling and planning purposes. Decisions on the train service that will run when HS2 is operational will made in due course and be subject to consultation.
Asked by: Jack Brereton (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the value engineering report for the design of the proposed Handsacre Junction of HS2.
Answered by Huw Merriman
There have been no value engineering reports on Handsacre junction since Network North. Previous decisions to change the design of Handsacre junction were made to reduce costs and disruption for passengers on the West Coast Main Line during construction, which was value for money given the previous plan to deliver Phase 2a on an accelerated timeframe would have resulted in the use of the junction for more than 1 train per hour in each direction only for a very short period.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 24 of his Department's publication entitled Network North: transforming British transport, CP 946, published on 4 October 2023, what the evidential basis is for the statement that the new plan for HS2 will result in nearly doubling capacity up to 250,000 seats per day across the primary long-distance operator on the West Coast Main Line and Phase 1.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The estimated increased seat capacity across the primary long-distance operator on the West Coast Main Line and HS2 set out in the Network North publication was based on illustrative assumptions about the potential services that could run across existing and new infrastructure once HS2 Phase 1 is brought into service.
This assumed 3 HS2 trains per hour running between London and Birmingham with additional capacity at peak hours, and assumptions on potential services which could run north of Birmingham. The latter are now being further refined through work with industry partners.
No final decisions have been made on the train service that will run when HS2 opens. These will be made in due course and be subject to consultation, taking advice from the industry. These considerations will include passenger and freight services available on the West Coast Main Line from released capacity.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral contribution of the Prime Minister at Prime Minister's Questions on 24 January 2024, Official Report, column 296, what plans his Department has to improve Preston railway station; and what his planned timeline is for those improvements.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Following the Network North announcement, work is underway to consider potential upgrades to the West Coast Main Line, including improvements to Preston station, to support the introduction of High-Speed Services and improve journeys between London, the West Midlands, the North-West and Scotland. My officials are working with industry partners to review options.
Asked by: Jack Brereton (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on (a) whether any issues were identified during the testing of new Hitachi AT300 rolling stock to replace Voyager on Avanti West Coast services, (b) whether an assessment has been made of the potential effect of the lack of tilt mechanism for those trains on (i) maintaining safe operation around bends at speed, (ii) journey times and (iii) rail timetables and (c) for what reason the tender for the rolling stock replacement for Voyager on Avanti West Coast services did not specify the inclusion of a tilt mechanism.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The procurement, safety risk assessment, and safe operation of the Hitachi AT300 rolling stock is the responsibility of the operator. When running rolling stock procurements, operators take account of factors such as what products are available to the market, reliability, operating cost, passenger capacity, comfort and environmental performance. Network Rail is currently upgrading infrastructure on parts of the West Coast Main Line to allow higher speed running with non-tilting trains. The Office of Rail and Road is responsible for ensuring the new trains meet rail safety regulatory requirements before they can operate on the mainline.
The Department is looking forward to the introduction of Avanti West Coast's brand new Hitachi rolling stock later this year which will replace its current diesel fleet in line with the Department's goal to run a more sustainable railway, resulting in a 61 per cent cut in carbon emissions, as well as offering more space and a quieter journey for passengers.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to help tackle congestion on the West Coast Main Line.
Answered by Huw Merriman
HS2 Phase 1 will be delivered between Euston and the West Midlands with a branch to Handsacre, near Lichfield, providing a significant increase in capacity across the busiest section of the West Coast Main Line. In addition, work is underway to consider potential upgrades to Handsacre junction and the broader West Coast Main Line to support the introduction of HS2 services, and improve journeys between London, the West Midlands, the North-West, Scotland and other locations. An upgrade of Handsacre Junction will allow more trains to reach key destinations north of Birmingham. It will have a transformative effect on rail capacity: nearly doubling capacity up to 250,000 seats per day across the primary long-distance operator on the West Coast Main Line and Phase 1 - triple that of the operator’s current estimated average daily demand.