Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they were involved in the decision-making process to withdraw the direct train service between Sheffield and Manchester Airport; and, if so, whether they support the withdrawal of this service.

This service was withdrawn in December 2022 in the timetable developed by the Manchester Task Force, a cross-industry group comprising of Transport for the North, train operators and Network Rail, to deliver more reliable services through Manchester.

The task force identified the Sheffield-Manchester Airport service, which reverses at Manchester Piccadilly, consuming two train paths in each direction, as one of the worst performing, with a significant impact on delays across the network.

The new timetable has delivered improvements in reliability of around 30 per cent, and the task force concept is now being used to resolve issues on the East Coast main line. As new infrastructure is realised and longer trains allow for a greater capacity with less congestion, we will look at services that could be reintroduced, possibly including direct services from Sheffield to the Airport, though there could be other towns and cities making a case for their pre-2022 direct connections to be restored as well.