Suzeman, I suspect you are more familiar than some of us as to how these procedures work, so perhaps you could clarify a couple of things.
I would have thought cost-benefit ratios would have been closely looked at before an application went to the Minister. Wouldn't it prove to be a waste of his and his department's time if Network Rail only later decided it was not a financially viable project having put it forward in the first place? Or is the Minister only being asked for approval for the building / planning aspects of it? Intentionally or not, Mark Carne's comment almost inevitably caused some concern that Network Rail were having second thoughts.
Were the additional 2 platforms at Piccadilly part of the overall Northern Hub scheme, which some of us thought had been given the go-ahead in principle?
Would appreciate your comments.