Source · Select Committees · Transport Committee
Second Report - The Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands
Transport Committee
HC 292
Published 27 July 2022
Recommendations
18
Accepted in Part
Birmingham stands to benefit from the new HS2 station at Curzon Street, and the easing...
Recommendation
Birmingham stands to benefit from the new HS2 station at Curzon Street, and the easing of capacity constraints at New Street by services moving to Moor Street station. One last piece of the puzzle appears to be facilitating connections from …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The government is considering the case for delivering the eastern section (including links to Leicester) of Midlands Rail Hub in the future, as part of the Outline Business Case for the South/West arm.
Department for Transport
View Details →
21
Accepted in Part
Journey time reductions—albeit not to the same degree as promised by previous plans—are a headline...
Recommendation
Journey time reductions—albeit not to the same degree as promised by previous plans—are a headline benefit of the IRP. We received detailed evidence that cast doubt on the plausibility of the times achievable under the new plans. We ask the …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The government has already published work by Mott MacDonald into the Strategic Alternatives to High Speed 2 Phase 2b, which includes an independent assessment of outputs for different alternatives on the Eastern Leg. Future business cases will include comparisons with previous plans, and detailed analysis will continue to evolve through future design stages.
Department for Transport
View Details →
23
Accepted in Part
Para 101
The Department for Transport should commission a full independent assessment of the seat and track...
Recommendation
The Department for Transport should commission a full independent assessment of the seat and track capacity offered by the IRP, compared to the previous plans for HS2 and other options for NPR. This assessment must take into account the future …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The Government has already published work by Mott MacDonald into the Strategic Alternatives to High Speed 2 Phase 2b, which includes an independent assessment of outputs for different alternatives on the Eastern Leg, and Network Rail and HS2 Ltd will provide objective and assured advice as to the likely seat and track capacity offered by the IRP.
Department for Transport
View Details →
25
Accepted in Part
Para 103
The Department for Transport should publish a rail freight strategy for the country setting out...
Recommendation
The Department for Transport should publish a rail freight strategy for the country setting out key plans, targets and milestones over a 30-year period. This should include a detailed assessment of how the IRP will achieve greater capacity for and …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The government partially accepts the recommendation, stating that they are working with the Great British Railways Transition Team to develop the Long-Term Strategy for Rail which will include a focus on opportunities for freight and set a long-term rail freight growth target later this year.
Department for Transport
View Details →
Conclusions (4)
13
Conclusion
Accepted in Part
The redevelopment of Leeds station is key to fully realising the benefits of the Integrated Rail Plan on the economy and connectivity in Leeds and West Yorkshire, and more widely. Already over capacity in its current configuration, Leeds station will not be able to handle the increased services and passengers …
Government Response Summary
The government partially accepts the recommendation and states that Network Rail and HS2 Ltd are developing the different aspects of the IRP, and they will provide objective and assured advice as to the likely seat and track capacity offered by the IRP.
14
Conclusion
Accepted in Part
Para 58
We ask the Government to commit to supporting redevelopment of Leeds station by 2035 so that it has sufficient capacity to accommodate services planned under the IRP, including HS2 trains arriving in Leeds.
Government Response Summary
The government is working to develop the Long-Term Strategy for Rail which will include a focus on opportunities for freight including delivering additional capacity and increased loading gauge clearance through the Transpennine Route Upgrade; and freeing up capacity on the WCML that could be used to run more freight trains.
22
Conclusion
Accepted in Part
Para 100
The Government’s fixation on journey times as a benefit of the IRP must not overshadow the issue of capacity. It seems highly unlikely that an upgraded Victorian line can replicate the capacity increases achievable by building new track.
Government Response Summary
The government has published work by Mott MacDonald into the Strategic Alternatives to High Speed 2 Phase 2b, which includes an independent assessment of outputs for different alternatives on the Eastern Leg, showing that significant seat increases were possible. However, they do not fully accept the conclusion that an upgraded Victorian line cannot replicate the capacity increases achievable by building new track.
24
Conclusion
Accepted in Part
Para 102
We welcome the Government’s Future of Freight Plan and the promised work to identify a National Freight Network. We look forward to seeing more detail about how modal shift of freight to rail will be achieved through the IRP core pipeline in particular.
Government Response Summary
The government is working on a Long-Term Strategy for Rail including opportunities for freight, recognizing the advantages of shifting freight from road to rail and will set a long-term rail freight growth target later this year; the government partially accepts the recommendation.