High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Bill 2024-25
The government has reintroduced the High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill and intends to repurpose this for Northern Powerhouse Rail.

This is a Westminster Hall debate for one and a half hours, initiated by Stephen Doughty MP, on Great Western Rail delays and performance across the network that will take place on Tuesday 5 February 2019 at 9.30am.
Great Western (GWR) delays and performance across the network (474 KB , PDF)
The Great Western Railway (GWR) franchise is currently being run by FirstGroup under a direct award, which is due to expire in March 2019. The DfT have decided to exercise its option to extend the direct award until April 2020 and plans on negotiating a further direct award for two years to April 2022.
Great Western Performance has deteriorated of late. The recent performance of GWR is reflected in the declining levels of passenger satisfaction on its part of the network. The Autumn 2018 National Rail Passenger Survey revealed that passenger satisfaction was at 78%, having declined from 84% when the survey was conducted three years prior to that. 67% of GWR passengers were satisfied by the reliability of trains, but only 40% of passengers were satisfied by the way GWR handled delays.
Great Western (GWR) delays and performance across the network (474 KB , PDF)
The government has reintroduced the High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill and intends to repurpose this for Northern Powerhouse Rail.
There will be a Westminster Hall debate on improving transport connectivity in the North West on 19 March 2025. The debate will be opened by Jo Platt MP (Labour, Leigh and Atherton).
A Westminster Hall debate on 'Open access operators for rail services' is scheduled for Thursday 6 February 2025, from 1.30pm to 3.00pm. The debate will be led by Martin Vickers MP.