Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve journey times and train frequencies between Easington constituency and local rail hubs at Sunderland and Newcastle.

As part of the new franchise award, the Northern franchisee will be required before October 2017 to undertake a feasibility study, identifying options for journey time improvements across the whole network, including services in the North East. This will include possible changes to existing infrastructure, improvements to rolling stock capability and reliability and the implementing of changes to service patterns.

Any resulting changes would be in addition to the local benefits secured as part of the franchise including the withdrawal of Pacer trains and the refurbishment of all the existing carriages retained in the franchise long term.