Written question asked by Lord Snape (Labour) on Thursday, 24 July 2025, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 7 August 2025. It was answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Labour) on Wednesday, 6 August 2025 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Railways: Capital Investment

Question: To ask His Majesty's Government what was the benefit-cost ratio of the railway investment schemes for which funding has not been confirmed including (1) the York Area Capacity and Performance, (2) South West Rail Resilience Programme phase 5, (3) Midland Mainline Electrification phase 3, and (4) Peckham Rye Station Congestion.

Answer: Benefit Cost Ratios (BCRs) within the economic case are only one element of decision-making on schemes and should be considered alongside the other cases in the five case business model used in Government (strategic, economic, financial, commercial and management cases). BCRs evolve as a project is developed through different levels of maturity as well as with changing scope, costs and benefits profiles. Definitive BCRs are not available for these schemes as they are either at an early stage of development or for which existing analysis is not up to date and therefore not representative of current scheme assumptions.

Secondary information