Transport written question – answered at on 20 June 2013.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the report from the Office of the Rail Regulator showing a decline in usage across all rail sectors over the last 12 months and the effect of this report on the economic evaluation of High Speed 2; and if he will make a statement.
Provisional statistics from the Office of Rail Regulation on usage of the rail network indicate that annual franchised passenger kilometres travelled on the rail network increased from 56.9 billion in 2011-12 to 58 billion in 2012-13. This represents an increase of 46% since 2002-03. Growing usage of the rail network is an important driver of the case for HS2. Network Rail estimates suggest that the West Coast Main Line will be overwhelmed by the mid 2020s if we do nothing.
Yes0 people think so
No3 people think not
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