Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the frequency of rail services (a) at Chester-le-Street station and (b) in County Durham.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My Department works with stakeholders including Transport for the North, elected mayors, transport authorities and passenger groups, as well as train operators, to assess the demand for services. Rail North Partnership, through which the Department jointly manages Northern and TransPennine Trains’ contracts with Transport for the North, monitors operators’ planned train deployment to ensure this falls within the requirement on them to match capacity to demand within the constraints of the network.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans she has to improve the (a) reliability and (b) frequency of bus services in (i) County Durham and (ii) the North East in collaboration with the Mayor of the North East.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government knows that Britain needs a modern transport network to help kickstart economic growth. Good local bus services are an essential part of prosperous and sustainable communities. As announced in the King’s Speech, the government will pass the Better Buses Bill to put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, to ensure networks can meet the needs to the communities who rely on them, including in County Durham and the North East.
We also plan to empower local transport authorities through reforming bus funding. By giving local leaders more control and flexibility over bus funding they can plan ahead to deliver their local transport priorities. The Department will work closely with local leaders and bus operators to deliver on the government’s ambitions.