Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of job losses, station closures and cost savings that will result if the proposals in his consultation document on Transpennine and Northern Rail franchises are implemented without change.

The Department for Transport is currently conducting a joint public consultation with Rail North which will inform the specifications for both the Northern and TransPennine Express franchises. The consultation can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/future-of-northern-and-transpennine-express-rail-franchises and concludes 18th August.

No estimates of the potential impacts on station staffing, or cost savings have yet been completed for any of the options set out in the consultation. The consultation states that the Department is not considering station closures for either the Northern or TransPennine Express franchises as part of the specification. Further work will be carried out, informed by the consultation, before any decisions are taken.