Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the figures for overcrowding are on the First Transpennine Express routes between (a) Manchester Airport and Sheffield, (b) Sheffield and Doncaster and (c) Scunthorpe and Doncaster.

On a typical weekday in autumn 2013, there were 4% of passengers in excess of capacity (PiXC) on First TransPennine Express services at Sheffield during the morning peak and 8% in the evening peak. This includes the routes to Sheffield from both Manchester and from Doncaster. Further information about these statistics can be found in the publication Rail passenger numbers and crowding on weekdays in major cities in England and Wales: 2013, which has been placed in the Libraries of the House and is available online at

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rail-passenger-numbers-and-crowding-on-weekdays-in-major-cities-in-england-and-wales-2013

These statistics are based on passenger counts carried out by train operators that the Department for Transport (DfT) holds on a commercially confidential basis, so more disaggregate data than that published cannot be released. DfT does not hold information on overcrowding between Scunthorpe and Doncaster.