Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-11-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what powers he proposes that Rail North will exercise in respect of the Northern and TransPennine Express rail franchises by May 2016.

Andrew Jones

In March of this year the Department for Transport (DfT) signed a formal partnership agreement with Rail North. This agreement sets out the arrangements by which a locally-based team in Leeds, reporting to a joint Rail North/ DfT strategic board will manage the new Northern and TransPennine Express franchises from April 2016. The agreement includes important mechanisms to enable the Rail North authorities to make decisions on changes to their local rail service and fares and to make investments in these franchises to make improvements.

It also sets out the steps by which further devolution will be agreed by the parties during the life of the franchises.