Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the match between service levels and passenger demand on each section of the (a) TransPennine Express and (b) Northern Rail franchises.
Between 2002 and 2012 rail demand in the North of England grew by a total of 66% and demand is expected to continue to grow. The Department for Transport is currently preparing its own forecasts of passenger demand for the next franchises to inform the specification.
The Northern and TransPennine Express franchises consultation document included information from the Government's Rail Investment Strategy for the period up to March 2019. This set out the number of passengers to be accommodated on services into Leeds and Manchester on a weekday during the morning peak period, as set out in the table below:
Table 2.2 Number of passengers to be accommodated into Leeds and Manchester | ||||
| Peak Three Hours | High-Peak Hour | ||
| Forecast demand in 2013/14 | Extra demand to be met by 2018/19 | Forecast demand in 2013/14 | Extra demand to be met by 2018/19 |
Leeds | 25,400 | 5,100 | 13,000 | 2,800 |
Manchester | 28,100 | 6,200 | 13,600 | 2,600 |
Source: HLOS (2012)