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West Coast Main Line

Volume 479: debated on Monday 21 July 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the consequences for the delivery to schedule of the West Coast Main Line upgrade of any failure by Network Rail to meet each of the 25 milestones agreed with the Office of Rail Regulation, broken down by milestone. (219645)

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has reviewed Network Rail's delivery plan for the West Coast Main Line and concluded that the plan is achievable, provided Network Rail robustly and diligently manages the delivery of the work against the revised programme.

In its Network Rail Monitor for 2007-08 published 5 June 2008, the ORR stated its intention to monitor 25 delivery milestones to certify that Network Rail remains on target to deliver the West Coast Main Line improvements. Two significant milestones were achieved on 5 and 29 May with the successful commissioning of new infrastructure on the Trent Valley four tracking project (Stages 1 and 3) and between Rugby and Nuneaton (Stage G).

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will provide a monthly report on progress towards the 25 milestones for the West Coast Main Line upgrade agreed between the Office of Rail Regulation and Network Rail. (219683)

The Department for Transport and Network Rail meet regularly to monitor progress on the West Coast Main Line. The 25 milestones are, however, matters between the Office of Rail Regulation and Network Rail.