Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Restoring Your Railway Programme

Thursday 16 December 2021 · 4 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 4 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Department has a 500 million fund called the restoring your railway programme to reopen lines and stations.
  • The Department is considering the next steps for a tranche of projects, including Devizes gateway, in the new year.
  • The Minister supports exploring light rail and very light rail products for schemes like the Barrow Hill line into Sheffield.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Danny Kruger Reform East Wiltshire
Transport
Context

The MP inquired about the steps being taken to maintain railway project funding after the COVID-19 outbreak.

Question

What steps his Department is taking to maintain funding for restoring your railway projects following the covid-19 outbreak?

Answer from Chris Heaton-Harris

Through our restoring your railway programme—a £500 million fund—we remain committed to reopening lines and stations, reconnecting communities across the country.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not specify when or how funding will be awarded for specific projects like Devizes station.

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Q2 Danny Kruger Reform East Wiltshire
Transport
Context

The MP asked about the timeline for announcing successful award of restoring your railway funding to Devizes, a station that was closed by Beeching.

Question

Can the Minister tell us when he is likely to announce the successful award of restoring your railway funding to Devizes?

Answer from Chris Heaton-Harris

We have now received the business case for that particular scheme, and we will be considering the next steps for a tranche of projects, including Devizes gateway, in the new year.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not provide an exact timeline for announcement or specific funding amounts for Devizes.

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Q3 Clive Betts Lab Sheffield South East
Transport
Context

The MP supported the opening of the Barrow Hill line and advocated for a tram-train service to encourage car use reduction.

Question

Will the Minister seriously look at the option of implementing a tram-train on the Barrow Hill line going into the centre of Sheffield?

Answer from Chris Heaton-Harris

I think he is completely right. There are now many more light rail and very light rail products out there, which would be very suitable for this scheme. The whole point of the restoring your railway scheme is to help people find the right product to deliver the right scheme for them in their locality.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not provide a specific commitment or timeline regarding considering the tram-train option.

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Q4 Huw Merriman Con
Transport
Context

The MP extended Christmas greetings and thanked the ministerial team for their evidence to the Transport Committee. He asked about proposals for automatic compensation for late trains.

Question

Will the Minister consider looking at automated and automatic compensation to allow the money to come straight back into bank accounts even if passengers do not even know they were late?

Answer from Chris Heaton-Harris

Great British Railways will almost certainly be doing this sort of thing. We are trying to make sure that we go faster, so what he will have seen in the story today is our direction of travel. We want people to have every confidence when they return to our railway that, should they be significantly delayed, it is a very simple process to claim their refund.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not provide a specific commitment or timeline for implementing automatic compensation systems.

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