Through the Restoring Your Railway Ideas Fund, the Department has announced funding of up to £50,000 to develop plans to extend the Metrolink to Bolton and Bury. The Department and Network Rail are providing support to Transport for Greater Manchester to conduct a feasibility study.

The Government has provided separate funding packages for Bus and Light Rail services.

On 8 August, the Government announced funding at up to £27.3 million per week to support the bus sector through the Covid-19 Bus Services Support Grant (CBSSG) Restart scheme, until a time when the funding is no longer needed.

On 22 October, the Government announced up to £67.8 million of funding for light rail services in Manchester, Tyne and Wear, Sheffield, West Midlands, Nottingham and Blackpool. This includes up to £35.4 million for light rail services for the 12 weeks from 27 October and a further indicative allocation of up to £32.4 million for the 11 weeks thereafter.

Providing separate funding packages for Bus and Light Rail services has allowed the Government to respond to the specific needs of transport operators in terms of supporting essential journeys throughout the pandemic. The allocation of CBSSG funding reflects the structure of the bus market and ensures that both Local Transport Authorities and operators have the funding they need to support up to 100% of pre-pandemic service levels, where it is safe and appropriate to do so.

Transport for the West Midlands (part of the West Midlands Combined Authority) has recently confirmed that the East Birmingham to Solihull tram extension scheme is in development, and it is for them to develop a business case.

As announced at Budget and confirmed in the Spending Review, the government is investing £4.2 billion in the transport networks of eight city regions across England from 22/23, including West Midlands Combined Authority area.

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I will study the plan he proposes with care, although I should tell him that a massive infrastructure programme is already under way, as the Chancellor will shortly announce, and it may be that in due time the scheme the hon. Gentleman proposes could benefit from those investments.

The Greater Manchester Metrolink tram system cuts carbon emissions, improves air quality and reduces congestion on our roads. As part of the post-covid recovery plan, will the Prime Minister commit funding to extend the tram network from East Didsbury to Stockport town centre in order to improve access and give much-needed support to businesses and communities in my constituency?

Officials are engaging with HMT on the future of emergency funding for the bus and light rail sectors, as a matter of the highest priority. The department will be in contact with operators as soon as we are in a position to update them.

The Department continues to work closely with transport authorities and operators to understand the risks and ongoing issues in the bus and coach industry and how these can be addressed, so that public transport services can adapt to any ‘new normal’ that emerges from the COVID-19 outbreak and work towards a sustainable long-term recovery.

The Department is engaging with HMT on the future of emergency funding for the bus and light rail sectors as a matter of the highest priority. My department will be in contact with operators as soon as we are in a position to update them.

We are continuing to engage with the coach sector to understand what the ongoing risks and issues are, and how these could be addressed.

On 24 April, the Department announced nearly £30 million to keep services running during lockdown, and a further £29 million on 23 May to help increase trams and light rail services in England, as we begin to restart our economy.

The Department will continue to work with the sector to understand how it can adapt to any ‘new normal’ that emerges from the Covid-19 outbreak so that a sustainable long-term recovery can be made.

The Government announced on 24 April 2020 that it would be supporting light rail systems in Sheffield, Manchester, West Midlands, Nottingham, and Tyne and Wear. The Department for Transport has now announced a package worth nearly £30 mllion to allow these essential services to continue.

Ministers and officials at the Department for Transport hold regular meetings with Transport for London to discuss the financial impacts of COVID-19 and will continue to do so as the outbreak continues.

Extensions to the West Midlands Metro are for the West Midlands Combined Authority to consider and will be subject to future funding being secured. The West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street, has already done significant work in improving connectivity across the West Midlands. For example, the Mayor has allocated a substantial portion of the West Midlands’ Transforming Cities Fund allocation to fund the Brierley Hill extension to the West Midlands Metro on which services are expected to commence in 2023.