Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made an assessment of (1) the types of routes on which Pacer units are regularly used by Northern Rail, and (2) the types of rolling stock that could be appropriate for those services as replacements for Pacers within the new franchise.

Pacers are used by Northern Rail on a diverse mix of rural and urban routes. In a number of cases, they are used to provide additional peak capacity on busy commuter routes. It will be for bidders for the new franchise to consider which rolling stock types might be appropriate as replacements for Pacers, subject to meeting the requirements of the specification that the Department will set out in the Invitation to Tender, but bidders may conclude that different rolling stock types – or rolling stock with different internal layouts – may be suitable for the various types of route on which Pacers are deployed.