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Written Question
Travel: Greater Manchester
Monday 17th April 2023

Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate his Department has made of the level of (a) car ownership, (b) bus usage (iii) light rail usage, (d) train usage and (e) active travel usage in (i) Bolton South East constituency, (ii) the borough of Bolton and (iii) Greater Manchester.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The information requested regarding (a) car ownership, (b) bus usage (c) light rail usage, (d) train usage and (e) active travel usage in (i) Bolton South East constituency, (ii) the borough of Bolton and (iii) Greater Manchester is given below, where available. In several cases, data are not available specifically for Bolton South East constituency or the Borough of Bolton.

A) Car ownership

According to the Department’s vehicle statistics, there were 1,393,157 registered cars as at end-September 2022 in Greater Manchester, 127,329 in Bolton Borough and 42,868 in Bolton South East Constituency.

B) Bus usage

According to the Department’s annual bus statistics, in the financial year 2021/22 there were 121.0 million local bus journeys taken in Greater Manchester. Data for (i) Bolton South East constituency and (ii) the borough of Bolton are not available

C) Light rail usage

According to the Department’s light rail statistics, in the financial year 2021/22 there were 26.0 million journeys taken on Manchester Metrolink. Data for (i) Bolton South East constituency and (ii) the borough of Bolton are not available

D) Train usage

According to Office of Rail and Road statistics in 2021/22 there were 39.2 million passenger rail journeys within the North West that started or ended in Greater Manchester. There were also 13.9 million journeys that started or ended in Greater Manchester that ended or started from regions other than the North West. Data for (i) Bolton South East constituency and (ii) the borough of Bolton are not available

E) Active travel usage

According to the Department’s annual walking and cycling statistics, between November 2020 and November 2021, 61.4% of adults walked or cycled at least once a week in Bolton (Local authority) and 66.6% of adults walked or cycled at least once a week in Greater Manchester. Data for (i) Bolton South East constituency are not available

F) Personal travel patterns in Greater Manchester

Additionally, information from the Department’s National Travel Survey shows that, on average each year between 2010 and 2019 there were 244 walking trips per person, 11 pedal cycle trips per person, 81 bus trips per person, 12 surface rail trips per person and 11 light rail trips per person by residents of Greater Manchester. 76% of adults in Greater Manchester had access to a car in 2021. National Travel Survey data is not available at constituency or borough level.


Non-Departmental Publication (Policy paper)
High Speed Two (HS2) Limited

Jul. 03 2023

Source Page: HS2 Phase 2b SES2 and AP2 ES Volume 5: Traffic and transport
Document: HS2 Phase 2b SES2 and AP2 ES Volume 5: MA06-MA08 Transport Assessment Part 3 Addendum (TR-003-00006) Report 7 of 12 (PDF)

Found: High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester)In Parliament – Session 2022 - 2023 Supplementary Environmental


Non-Departmental Publication (Statistics)
High Speed Two (HS2) Limited

Jul. 03 2023

Source Page: Background information and data for the HS2 Phase 2b SES2 and AP2 ES: Historic environment
Document: HS2 Phase 2b SES2 and AP2 ES Background Information and data: Historic environment baseline data (BID HE-001-00000 SES2 and AP2 ES) (PDF)

Found: Environmental Statement two sections either side of a skewed underground railway tunnel (now part of the Metrolink


Select Committee
2023-03-07 HS2-123 Angela Rayner MP, Andrew Gwynne MP, Jonathan Reynolds MP - Promoter exhibits

Scrutiny evidence Mar. 14 2023

Committee: High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill Select Committee (Commons)

Found: a Metrolink service connecting the commu nities of Tameside to central Manchester to remain operational


Non-Departmental Publication (Policy paper)
High Speed Two (HS2) Limited

Jul. 03 2023

Source Page: HS2 Phase 2b SES2 and AP2 ES Volume 5: Traffic and transport
Document: HS2 Phase 2b SES2 and AP2 ES Volume 5: MA06-MA08 Transport Assessment Part 3 Addendum (TR-003-00006) Report 3 of 12 (PDF)

Found: services including relocation of Piccadilly Metrolink stop beneath Manchester Piccadilly High Speed


Select Committee
Neil Cameron KC, Andrew Byass, Department for Transport, Allanfield Consulting, Mott MacDonald, OTB Engineering, and Bennetts Associates

Oral Evidence Jun. 19 2023

Committee: High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill Select Committee (Commons)

Found: We’re talking things like Manchester Metrolink, Edinburgh Trams.


Select Committee
2023-03-07 HS2-088 Graham Stringer MP - Promoter exhibits

Scrutiny evidence Mar. 07 2023

Committee: High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill Select Committee (Commons)

Found: Piccadilly Station, to Metrolink, and the construction impacts in central Manchester, as well as potential


Departmental Publication (Open consultation)
Department for Transport

May. 16 2024

Source Page: Lowering the minimum age requirement for train drivers from 20 to 18
Document: (PDF)

Found: Cross Station London Trams/Croydon tramtrack Limited Loram UK LRSSB LS (TOC) LTD LUAS LUL Manchester


Deposited Papers
Department for Transport

May. 20 2024

Source Page: I. Letter dated 15/05/2024 from Huw Merriman MP to Iain Stewart MP regarding launch of a public consultation on the minimum age for train driving. 1p. II. Lowering the minimum age requirement for train drivers from 20 to 18 years. Consultation 27p.
Document: Lowering_the_minimum_age_Consultation_Document_May_2024.pdf (PDF)

Found: Cross Station London Trams/Croydon tramtrack Limited Loram UK LRSSB LS (TOC) LTD LUAS LUL Manchester


Non-Departmental Publication (Statistics)
High Speed Two (HS2) Limited

Mar. 08 2023

Source Page: HS2 Phase 2b (Crewe – Manchester) Topic documents for the House of Commons Select Committee
Document: Section B: Route Overview (PDF)

Found: HS2 Phase 2b (Crewe – Manchester) Topic documents for the House of Commons Select Committee