Written question asked by Gavin Williamson (Conservative) on Monday, 15 April 2024, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 17 April 2024. It was answered by Huw Merriman (Conservative) on Monday, 22 April 2024 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Railways: Greater Manchester

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an estimate of the cost of (a) lengthening the Manchester East tunnel by 259 metres and (b) other parts of the new gyratory road junction at J6 of the M56 at Q3 2019 prices; and whether those changes are planned to be implemented as part of the Northern Powerhouse Rail core route.

Answer: The government is seeking to adapt the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) only, removing scope south of the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, which was included only for HS2. A motion to formalise the point of truncation will be brought to the House and a supplementary environmental statement will be produced.

As set out in the Network North Command paper, £12 billion in 2023 prices has been retained to deliver NPR scope between Manchester and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne. The funding has not been disaggregated further.

Secondary information