Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 29 January, whether the North West Recovery Task Force will "deliver recommendations on how best to boost capacity and performance in the short, medium and longer term" throughout the Northern Rail franchise area.

The task force, co-ordinated by Network Rail, is considering a number of options that can be implemented to improve the performance and capacity of all rail services through Greater Manchester. It is considering and assessing a range of potential timetable and infrastructure changes to be made across the short, medium and long term. The task force has been commissioned to create and develop improvement options in the North West, which includes the Northern Rail franchise area, and make recommendations to the government.