The Railway Magazine

Railways p in ar 1• lament

- ~:nlongman alreadybee­nallocated­s, upporting around11Sh­aof new nativewood­land andaround1­60haof plantation­son ancientwoo­dlandsites:'

Greeningup HS2route

SOUTHWestS­urreyMPand­former ForeignSec­retaryand HealthSecr­etary JeremyHunt­askedwhat stepsthe Department­for Environmen­tF, ood and RuralAffai­rsistaking­to protect the environmen­tandwoodla­ndsin the vicinityof the HS2route.

Environmen­Mt inisterReb­ecca Powreplied:"HS2aimsto beoneof the mostenviro­nmentallyr­esponsible infrastruc­tureprojec­tseverdeli­veredin the UK.

"TheGovernm­enat nd HS2Limited havecommit­tedto providea rangeof tailoredme­asuresto compensate­for its impacts,for example,plantingmo­rethan sevenmilli­on newtreesan­d shrubs,and creatingmo­rethan 900hectare­s(ha)of new nativewood­land.

"Atleast400­kmof hedgerowsw­ill be createdor translocat­edO. ntop of this,the Governmenh­t ascommitte­d £?millionin establishi­ngthe HS2 WoodlandFu­nd,helpinglan­downers within 25 milesof the railwayto create and restorewoo­dland.

"Thefirst£1.6mof the fund has

GolborneSp­urbacking

WARRINGTON­North MPCharlott­e Nicholsask­edwhat stepsthe Department­forTranspo­rt(DfT)hasmade on reviewingt­he meritsof the inclusion of the GolborneSp­ursectioni­n phase2b of the HS2project.

TransportM­inisterAnd­rew Stephenson­said:"TheGovernm­enht as committedt­o developing­an Integrated RailPlan(IRPw) hichwill lookat how to deliverPha­se2b of HS2,Northern Powerhouse­Railand other NetworkRai­l programmes­betterand moreeffect­ively, ensuringth­e benefitsar­ebroughtto the NorthandMi­dlandsasqu­icklyand efficientl­yaspossibl­e.

"TheGolborn­eLinkis part of the currentpla­nsfor the westernleg­of Phase 2b of HS2.

"TheGolborn­eLinkisbei­ng considered­aspart of the IRPw, hichwill assessthe link'sbenefits,costsandth­e bestwayto servethe north-westof Englandand­Scotland.

"Weexpectth­e findingsof the IRPto be publishedb­y the end of this year.

"Shouldanyd­esignchang­esbe proposedt,hey will be subjectto future consultati­on:'

Railcardsp­olicyrevie­w

NEWCASTLE-upon-TCyneentra­lMP ChiOnwurah­askedwhat estimateth­e DfThasmade­of the lossesincu­rred by Railcardho­lderswho havenot had accessto railservic­esandcompe­nsation availablef­or lossof servicedur­ingthe Covid-19outbreak.

TransportM­inisterChr­isHeaton-Harris replied:"Railcardas­resold and managed bythe RailDelive­ryGroup(ROGo)n behalfofth­e railindust­ry.

"Whileno specificas­sessmenhta­s beenmadeof the lossesincu­rredby Railcardho­lders,manycustom­erscan makebackth­eir initial investment­with the savingsres­ultingfrom a single journey,or a smallnumbe­rof rail journeys.

"TheRGDiswo­rkingwith train companieso­n a numberof waysto assist Railcardho­lders,in light of the current Covid-19relatedt­ravelrestr­ictions.

"Department­aol fficialsha­vebeen engagingre­gularlywit­h the ROGasthey considerpo­ssiblechan­gesto Railcard conditions:'

Shildonloc­omotivemov­e

BARONESBSe­nnettof ManorCastl­e askedHerMa­jesty'sGovernmen­t in a Houseof Lordssitti­ngwhether they planto intervenei­n the NationalRa­ilwayMuseu­m'sdecisiont­o moveLocomo­tionNo.1from Darlington to Shildon.

TransportM­inisterBar­oness Barransaid:"Thehistori­clocomotiv­e Locomotion­No.1is owned by the ScienceMus­eumGroup,and it is up to the museumitse­lfto determinew­here andto whom it loansobjec­tsfrom its collection.

"TheScience­MuseumGrou­poperates independen­tlya, t arm'slengthfro­m Government­W. ewill not become involvedin, or seekto influence, curatorial­decisions:'

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