Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations his Department has received on the business case for improvements to the Shrewsbury-Black Country-Birmingham rail line.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Midlands Connect submitted a Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for its proposals to upgrade the railway between Shrewsbury and Birmingham to the Department for Transport in 2022.
The benefits of upgrading the line are outlined in the SOBC, including an estimate of the economic impacts of the scheme. We are considering the case for upgrading this line in terms of value for money, affordability, and alignment with the Government’s strategic priorities.
We are committed to publishing the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) update as soon as possible to provide clarity on the progress of projects.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an estimate of the potential economic merits of enhancing the Shrewsbury-Black Country-Birmingham rail line.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Midlands Connect submitted a Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for its proposals to upgrade the railway between Shrewsbury and Birmingham to the Department for Transport in 2022.
The benefits of upgrading the line are outlined in the SOBC, including an estimate of the economic impacts of the scheme. We are considering the case for upgrading this line in terms of value for money, affordability, and alignment with the Government’s strategic priorities.
We are committed to publishing the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) update as soon as possible to provide clarity on the progress of projects.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to take a decision on the upgrade of the railway line between Shrewsbury and Birmingham New Street.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Midlands Connect submitted a Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for its proposals to upgrade the railway between Shrewsbury and Birmingham to the Department for Transport in 2022.
The benefits of upgrading the line are outlined in the SOBC, including an estimate of the economic impacts of the scheme. We are considering the case for upgrading this line in terms of value for money, affordability, and alignment with the Government’s strategic priorities.
We are committed to publishing the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) update as soon as possible to provide clarity on the progress of projects.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 26 January 2023 to Question 129879 on Railways: Midlands and North of England, what assessment the Department has made of the potential impact on (a) services and (b) passengers at intermediate stations on the East Coast Mainline of (a) no longer being served and (b) receiving a reduced service as a result of the changes.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As previously confirmed in the response to question 129879, detailed timetabling work for the Integrated Rail Plan will be conducted at a later stage of project development. Once developed, an updated East Coast Main Line timetable specification would be subject to public consultation.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2023 to Question 129878, if he will estimate the length of track in kilometres on which trains could travel at 140 miles per hour broken down by rolling stock performance specification.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Network Rail have yet to conduct that level of performance analysis. In line with normal project development, this work will be carried out to support the business cases required for the investment needed to implement the higher line speeds.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17th January to Question 122182 on Railways: Midlands and North of England, for how many of the 217 track kilometres would a train reach 140mph.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Within the 217km, trains would need to accelerate up to 140mph and decelerate back down to 125mph. The distance this would take depends upon the performance specification of the rolling stock.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 17 January to Question 122183 on Railways: Midlands and North of England, how many stops would need to be reduced in order to achieve savings of (a) 25 minutes to Newcastle and Edinburgh, (b) 15 minutes to Darlington and (c) 20 minutes to Leeds.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
In line with normal project development, detailed timetabling work for the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) will be conducted later. Once developed, an updated East Coast Main Line (ECML) timetable specification would be expected to be subject to public consultation.
As set out in the published Mott Macdonald report upon which the IRP ECML journey times are based, the fastest journey times between London and Leeds and London and Edinburgh assume two stops and one stop, respectively, whilst the fastest journey time from London to Newcastle assumes no intermediate stops. Not every train would adopt these patterns, with intermediate stations served by separate services.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 14 of the Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands published on 18 November 2021, what estimate his Department has made of the length of track in kilometres that is feasible to upgrade to 140mph.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Initial analysis conducted by Mott MacDonald on behalf of the Department suggests that it would be feasible to upgrade up to 135 miles (217km) of the East Coast Main Line to support 140mph operation.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Integrated Rail Plan p15, whether the assumptions of twenty five minute time savings are based on reducing intermediate stops along the East Coast Mainline.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) sets out ambitious plans for the upgrade of the East Coast Main Line (ECML). The fastest ECML journey times quoted in the IRP may be achieved through a combination of increasing maximum speeds from 125mph to 140mph on some sections of the route, and by some services making fewer intermediate stops. Intermediate stations along the route would be served by separate services and the detailed timetable specification will be developed when the IRP is progressed.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has had recent discussions with (a) Great Western Railway, (b) Cross Country Trains, (c) Greater Anglia, (d) LNER, (e) East Midlands Railway, (f) c2c, (g) Chiltern Railways, (h) GTR, (i) Northern Trains, (j) South Eastern, (k) South Western Railway, (l) TransPennine Express, (m) Avanti West Coast and (n) West Midlands Trains on the (i) quality and (ii) frequency of their train services; and whether he will take steps to mandate for those companies to negotiate the wages of railway staff.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department is in regular discussion with all 14 train operating companies about the quality and frequency of train services to ensure that operators are held to account for delivering services that meet new passenger travel patterns, are fit for the future, and carefully balance cost, capacity and performance.
The Rail Delivery Group are negotiating with Trade Unions on proposed pay offers at a national level on behalf of Train Operating Companies (the employers). Ministers’ role is to facilitate and support the ongoing discussions between the rail industry and Trade Unions regarding workforce reform and pay.