§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the expected(a) cost and (b) completion date were of the renewal of the west coast main line when the contract was let; and what his latest estimates of (a) and (b) are. [137939]
§ Mr. McNultyThe West Coast Route Modernisation project was originally developed by Railtrack in the late 1990s, which claimed that it would be completed by 2005 at a cost of around £2.2 billion. A number of contracts were let with project managers and suppliers for its delivery. However, under Railtrack's management the projected costs eventually escalated to over £13 billion, and it became clear the committed outputs were undeliverable. The Strategic Rail Authority and Network Rail have now established a robust framework for delivering the project, based on the SRA's June 2003 'West Coast Main Line Strategy', which indicated that the costs would be kept within a cap of £9.9 billion. Further work is under way to explore the scope for reducing the costs further. The outputs are currently on course to be delivered by 2007–08.
§ Mr. WattsTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the West Coast Main Line connection between Crewe and Liverpool Lime Street will be fully modernised by 2005. [139285]
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§ Mr. McNultyThe West Coast Main line Strategy, published by the SRA in June 2003, shows that the upgrading of the line between Crewe—Weaver Junction and Liverpool for higher maximum line speeds is projected to be completed by 2005.
§ Mr. WattsTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average speed of trains on the West Coast Main Line between Crewe and Liverpool Lime Street will be after the line has been fully modernised. [139286]
§ Mr. McNultyUnder current timetable proposals for fastest Crewe-Liverpool journey times of some 34 minutes by the end of 2004, average journey speed would be around 60mph, depending on the number of intermediate stops. Timetabling proposals for later years are not yet developed.
§ Mr. WattsTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what effect the estimated increase in the costs of modernising will have on the Government's plans for the West Coast Main Line. [139287]
§ Mr. McNultyThe Strategic Rail Authority's 'West Coast Main Line Strategy', published in June 2003, established a robust framework for delivering the project. The Strategy indicated a project cost within a cap of £9.9 billion. Further work is under way to explore the scope for reducing costs. The project outputs are currently on course to be delivered fully by 2007–08.
§ Mr. WattsTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the estimated train journey time is for services between London and Liverpool using the West Coast Main Line after 2005. [139288]
§ Mr. McNultyThe Strategic Rail Authority's 'West Coast Main Line Strategy', published in June 2003, gave an indicative best journey time of 2 hours 12 minutes in 2005 for London to Liverpool services.
§ Mr. WattsTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether the whole of the West Coast Main Line will be fully modernised by 2008; [139289]
(2) what the estimated journey time is for trains using the West Coast Main Line between London and Glasgow after 2008. [139290]
§ Mr. McNultyThe Strategic Rail Authority's "West Coast Main Line Strategy", published in June 2003, envisages that the modernisation of the line will be complete by 2008 when the fastest journey time from London to Glasgow is projected to fall to some four hours 18 minutes.