Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what additional capacity will be provided on train services in the Easington constituency following the replacement of pacer trains on the Northern Rail, Durham Coast Line.

Northern’s refurbished ‘Sprinter’ trains will form the backbone of services on the Durham Coast following the removal of Pacers. This will deliver a 34% increase in seating capacity and even greater standing capacity when a Pacer is directly compared to a Sprinter unit. All refurbished trains will deliver a much better customer experience including free customer wifi, at seat power, customer information screens and improved lighting and seating.