Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information and estimates his Department gave to Rail North in respect of (a) passenger numbers on existing services, (b) the spending envelope for the new franchise, (c) changes in staff numbers required and (d) stations closures or transfer of control of those stations to local authorities.

The Department and Rail North are working collaboratively in accordance with the “Partnership Principles,” which includes “full and open disclosure between parties subject to any confidentiality obligations which apply.” As such Rail North was provided with all of the information necessary for the creation of the consultation document. This included known passenger numbers on existing services and financial information from the Department’s Long Term Forecast for both franchises. As stated in the consultation, the Department is not considering line or station closures for these competitions. Staffing levels are a matter for the train operators and estimates have not been made regarding them.