Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve rail services in (a) the North West, (b) Merseyside, (c) Wirral and (d) Wallasey constituency.

In response to passengers’ needs, Northern introduced, in the December 2019 timetable, an extension of the Alderley Edge to Southport route which now takes customers into Manchester Piccadilly. It also secured a recent agreement with ASLEF to improve the reliability of Sunday services which will significantly reduce cancellations in the North West. Also, in December, Trans-Pennine Express (TPE) introduced a brand new service between Liverpool and Glasgow with three services running in each direction every day.

The introduction of new trains by both TPE and Northern also means an improved customer experience and faster journey times, connecting passengers to cities across the network.

Trains services in the Wirral and Wallasey are provided by Merseyrail, the management of which is a devolved responsibility of Liverpool City Region.