Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to (a) tackle (i) delays and (ii) cancellations and (b) improve the performance of Northern Rail services (A) in general and (B) on the Morecambe line.

Northern Trains’ current performance is not acceptable and we have issued it with a notice requiring it to develop an improvement plan to address the issues underlying its current lack of reliability. The Secretary of State also recently met with Northern to understand how that plan is progressing, following a previous meeting with the Rail Minister.

As Passenger-in-Chief, the Secretary of State will keep standing up for passengers and demanding better services from operators.