Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the (a) frequency and (b) capacity of services between Birmingham and (i) Nottingham and (ii) Leicester.

The scope for increased frequency is limited by current infrastructure which is being considered as part of the proposed Midlands Rail Hub project. In terms of capacity, CrossCountry has recently declassified First Class accommodation on services from Birmingham to Cardiff, Nottingham and Stansted Airport to provide a number of additional seats for all ticket holders.

The Department has funded 12 cascaded Voyager trains for CrossCountry Inter-city routes to provide additional capacity for passengers, including on routes that overlap with Birmingham to Nottingham services, thereby spreading demand across more carriages. Three of these trains are already in service, the rest will start in May.