We highlighted this gap to the Department. It told us it was looking at a range of measures to boost capacity without new infrastructure, but did not provide further detail on the measures. It also explained there was significant uncertainty when projecting rail demand so far into the future and set out why it believed the phase 2 timeline was necessary. Reasons for this included the time required to get the design right and for processes such as the passage of the hybrid Bill and consenting, and ensuring a “reasonably even profile of work” for the supply chain.57