Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve the (a) connectivity and (b) affordability of rail travel between Stoke-on-Trent and London.

For the next InterCity West Coast franchise we ran a public consultation from 10 May to 2 August this year seeking both the public’s and stakeholders’ views and priorities to help inform potential bidders to ensure they meet the needs of the passengers. This included questions about connectivity and minimum levels of service. We are now reviewing and analysing the information and a summary will be published in due course.

We have capped the rail fares we regulate at inflation (Retail Price Index) for four years running, and will continue to do so for the life of this parliament. This means those fares we regulate will rise by no more than 1.9% in 2017.

Passengers on long-distance routes such as Stoke on Trent to London can also benefit from unregulated Advance fares, which have helped to make some leisure travel services significantly cheaper for passengers who are able to book ahead and commit themselves to travelling on a specific departure, and has also helped to fill emptier trains.