HL Deb 25 February 2002 vol 631 cc197-8WA
Lord Berkeley

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What European Union funding was allocated to the upgrade of the West Coast Main Line during the past five years; and for what purposes. [HL2807]

Lord Falconer of Thoroton

Over the past five years the West Coast Main Line upgrade has received E55 million of funding from the trans-European transport network budget.

The funding is being provided for works to allow the running of international passenger trains and inter-modal freight traffic north of London, and works to modernise track and structures to eliminate bottlenecks and increase capacity. The works will include the introduction of a transmission-based control system, a network management centre, upgrading the power supplies and overhead line equipment, replacements of all track on the fast lines between London and Crewe, and resignalling the route.

The project has also attracted loans from the European Investment Bank.