Written questions by Mayhew.

When the first East West Rail services are expected to operate from Bicester to Winslow.

The Department continues to work closely with Chiltern Railways and other partners to confirm a start date for the first East-West Rail services between Oxford and Milton Keynes Central via Winslow. For passenger services to commence, trains will need to have been modified and fully tested, and driver training will need to have been completed. Winslow Station also needs to be fully handed over, and future staffing arrangements also remain to be agreed. Appointment of Chiltern Railways as operator was delayed by the sudden General Election in July 2024, and consequently they were not appointed until March 2025.

What estimate has been made of the annual cost to ferry operators serving the Isle of Wight arising from inclusion in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme.

The expansion of the UK ETS to domestic maritime is designed to cut emissions and accelerate investment in cleaner vessels and technologies.The Impact Assessment that accompanies the UK ETS Authority’s final response to the “UK Emissions Trading Scheme Scope Expansion: maritime sector” consultation, presents analysis on the overall cost of the UK ETS to shipping operators. The cost to each individual operator will depend on their level of emissions, whether they choose to invest in measures to reduce these emissions, and the carbon price trajectory over time. Costs for individual operators, including Isle of Wight services, will reflect their emissions profile, how quickly they adopt fuel saving or low carbon measures, and the trajectory of the carbon price over time.

What proportion of motorway service areas have at least six ultra-rapid electric vehicle chargepoints; and what target she has set for full coverage.

All motorway service areas in England now offer open-access rapid or ultra-rapid charge points and 75% (January 2026, industry data) have at least six or more ultra-rapid open-access charge points.The Government continues to work closely with distribution network operators, motorway service area operators, charge point operators and other industry stakeholders to address barriers to rollout.In November 2025, the Government opened applications for a £10 million innovation fund for cutting-edge technologies to support rollout of chargers along the Strategic Road Network (England’s motorways and major A-roads).

A) how much funding has been allocated to local authorities for pothole repairs in each year since 2023–24; b) what estimate her Department has made of the number of potholes expected to be repaired as a result of that funding; c) what assessment she has made of the cost per pothole repair, and d) how many additional potholes she expects will be repaired annually as a result of the £7.3 billion funding settlement.

The total funding provided to local authorities in each financial year since 2023/24 can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/highways-maintenance-funding-allocations. The Asphalt Industry Alliance estimated in its 2026 Survey that the average cost of repairing a pothole is £78.45. The funding increase for local highways maintenance that the Government has confirmed – doubling annual funding by 2029-30 compared to 2024-25 levels – will enable local highway authorities to repair millions of additional potholes in each year of this Parliament. At the same time, the Department is also expecting local highway authorities to adopt best practice in highways maintenance, which includes a greater focus on preventative maintenance so that fewer potholes form in the first place and a greater focus on permanent pothole repairs to reduce the need for repeated and more costly temporary repairs.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2026 to Question 116791, what representations were made by organisations representing disabled people during engagement relating to the guidance entitled Floating Bus Stops: Provision and Design; and what advice she received from officials on those representations.

Three workshops were held on the floating bus stop guidance, facilitated by Transport for All (TfA). The participants included organisations representing disabled people and TfA members with lived experience of disability. The department also circulated the draft guidance for comment to a range of groups from 26 November to 2 December 2025. A list of those involved is included in the guidance at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/floating-bus-stops-provision-and-design A range of comments and representations were received from seven organisations representing the needs of disabled people. For example these included the need for consistent design approaches; the need to prioritise accessibility; the role of behaviour change and enforcement alongside design; concerns about shared-use bus boarders; and many comments on detailed design points. This information was used to inform the final version of the guidance which was cleared through my office in the usual way.

Whether 16- and 17-year-olds will be able to access Training Driver Level 3 apprenticeships.

The Government is confident in the steps being taken by the rail industry to enable 16 and 17 year olds to access Train Driving Level 3 Apprenticeships. New legislation to lower the minimum age to be a train driver from 20 to 18 will remove the main legal obstacle preventing train operators from recruiting 16- and 17 year olds into the profession, including via apprenticeships. The industry is working with Skills England to reduce the apprenticeship entry age from 18 to 17½, which will allow young people to begin classroom learning and supervised training before becoming eligible for a licence at 18. For 16 and 17 year olds, the industry is also developing preparatory routes, including a new rail foundation apprenticeship from age 16 and access courses to build the non-technical skills needed for driver selection.

Pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2026 to WPQ 116586, whether her Department plans to publish details of the savings in fees otherwise payable to former private sector owners used to offset the increase in staff costs for DfT Operator Limited.

Once all services currently delivered under contract with the Department have transferred, public ownership is expected to save taxpayers up to an estimated £110-150 million every year on fees currently paid to privately-owned train operating companies. This is several orders of magnitude less than the costs of scaling up DfTO staffing in anticipation of establishing GBR – as part of which we will be tackling waste and inefficiency across the fragmented railway we inherited.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the impact of passenger demand and peak-time capacity on the effectiveness of Northern services operating on the Clitheroe–Manchester line.

The Rail North Partnership (which is a collaboration between Transport for the North and the Department for Transport to manage the Northern and TransPennine Express rail contracts) has regular discussions with Northern about the levels of service and passenger demand and its capacity to meet these across its network.Every effort is taken to ensure the planned formation of trains is provided. However unfortunately there may be occasions when this is not possible due to more trains than usual requiring repair.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2026 to Question 118263 on East West Rail Line, in which month will the first services operate from the new station at Winslow.

Chiltern is continuing to work closely with its partners and the Department to conclude the remaining train, infrastructure and staff issues. The start date for the first East West Rail (EWR) services at Winslow station will be announced as soon as it is possible to do so.

With reference to the National Audit Office's report entitled Department for Transport 2024-25, published in November 2025, whether capital spending on the High Speed Two programme is on track to fall by 7.9% in real terms between 2025-26 and 2029-30.

The figures within the National Audit Office’s report reflect table 5.18 within the 2025 Spending Review document. The HS2 programme will be required to align with the Spending Review settlement which, based on the annual capital Departmental Expenditure Limits between the period FY 25/26 - FY 29/30, reflects an average annual real growth rate of -7.9%.

What the current level of rail industry productivity is as a percentage of pre-pandemic levels.

The Office of Rail and Road published its report on rail industry productivity in March 2025. The report can be found at: https://www.orr.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2025-03/2025-rail-industry-productivity-report.pdf.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2026 to Question 112226 on Airports: Fees and Charges, whether her Department plans to collect information from airports on the level of kerbside drop-off charges paid by passengers.

Kerbside drop‑off charges are commercial matters for airports to set and justify to their customers, and information on charge levels is already freely available on airports’ respective public websites. The Department collects a range of information on airports’ surface access strategies through our regular engagement with airport operators, and drop‑off charges form part of these wider discussions.

What estimate the Department for Transport has made of the lease costs written off by East West Rail following delays to testing of the route.

The Department for Transport is not proposing to write-off any contracted lease costs following delays to testing of the route. Driver training, testing, and rolling stock modifications are continuing in preparation for entry into service. The Department continues to meet and budget for the contracted rolling stock lease costs for East West Rail.

What progress has been made on the Oxford–Cambridge Growth Corridor since January 2025.

The Oxford–Cambridge Corridor is a national priority for the Government. We believe that growth here will boost the whole UK economy, creating jobs, enhancing connectivity and opportunities across the UK. On East West Rail (EWR), major construction work has completed for Connection Stage 1 and in June 2025 the line opened to freight trains. In March 2025 the Department announced Chiltern as the line operator and is working with partners to confirm a start date for the first EWR services between Oxford and Milton Keynes. On future stages of the project, East West Rail Company completed its third non-statutory consultation in January 2025 and set out an update on proposals for the railway in November 2025. Work is currently progressing on a Spring consultation on East West Rail to take place shortly. The new Cambridge South station is expected to open in June 2026, providing vital connectivity to the Cambridge biomedical campus and the wider region and enhancing travel options for both local residents and visitors. The station is expected to serve up to 1.8 million passengers each year, improving access to economic opportunities and housing development in the region. The station will also have built in-capacity to support future East West rail services. In October 2025, the Government announced a £120 million funding contribution to reopen the Cowley Branch Line to passenger services. This will see regular services from Oxford starting in 2029/2030 and serving new stations at Littlemore and Cowley to support growth, housing and innovation in the city and across the region. Turning to strategic roads, construction of the A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet improvement has continued and we expect it to open in 2027. When complete, the scheme will provide quicker, safer and more reliable journeys for thousands of road users every day and help give more access to jobs in Milton Keynes, Cambridge and everywhere in between.

When the long-term climate resilience strategy being developed by Network Rail is expected to be published.

Network Rail have already undertaken significant adaptation planning and action. They have produced Weather and Resilience Climate Change Adaptation (WRCCA) plans for each of the five regions for CP7 (2024-29); they have reported on their activity under the Adaptation Reporting Powers, with the most recent response submitted in late 2024; and in 2025, they published their Greener Railway Strategy which included adaptation objectives. Network Rail (NR) is planning to publish its long-term climate change adaptation pathways strategy in March / April 2029. This will take strategy commitments a step further and provide a route-by-route plan of how to respond to current and projected risks.

How many standards checks of approved driving instructor trainers have been carried out in each of the last five years; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of periods of more than five years without quality assurance checks on training quality.

DVSA does not have a separate standards checks for trainers of ADIs. If a driving instructor wishes to train driving instructors, they do not need an extra qualification.

Whether her Department will achieve an average 5% annual real-terms reduction in resource spending between 2025-26 and 2028-29.

Spending plans for the period from 2025-26 to 2028-29 were agreed with HM Treasury as part of the Spending Review 2025 settlement and can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spending-review-2025-document.They were amended as part of the Autumn Budget 2025 and can be found at [page 146] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/Budget_2025.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2026 to Question 108301, what the cost was of applying the temporary Bee Network promotional livery to that Northern train; and whether that cost was met by (a) her Department, (b) the train operator, (c) Great British Railways Transition Team and (d) Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

The cost of applying the temporary Bee Network promotional livery to the Northern train was met by Transport for Greater Manchester.

What role her Department has in overseeing the safety and adequacy of compulsory pilotage arrangements in UK waters; and whether her Department holds or reviews records relating to pilotage incidents involving vessels operating under compulsory pilotage.

The assessment and provision of pilotage services are matters for Competent Harbour Authorities (CHAs). Given the local knowledge and experience necessary, as well as wide variations between ports, they remain best placed to assess what arrangements are necessary. The Department has responsibility for the effective and efficient functioning of the legislative framework and is content that current arrangements under the Pilotage Act 1987 remain fit for purpose. The Department does not hold any records relating to pilotage. However, these may be reviewed should there be an incident requiring investigation by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch and/or the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 78719 on East West Rail Line, when she expects (a) train testing, (b) driver training and (c) general works to be completed in order for the new station at Winslow to open.

The Department is working closely with Chiltern and other partners to confirm a start date for the first EWR services between Oxford and Milton Keynes.