Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment Network Rail has made of the (a) available capacity on the Stalybridge to Stockport railway line and (b) feasibility of providing additional passenger services on that railway line.

Paul Maynard

1) Available capacity on the Stalybridge to Stockport railway line

The single line sections limit the track capacity on this route, which is currently used for frequent freight services and empty stock moves for Northern Rail.

Platform and track capacity at Stockport is also a constraint on service expansion in this area.

2) Feasibility of providing additional passenger services on that railway line.

Additional services on this route are not committed by Northern during the current franchise. To support expansion of services in the future, DfT and Rail North contracted a Service Option Fund through Northern’s Franchise Agreement that will be used from 2019 onwards to assist with the operating cost impact of running extra services.

The assessment of which service options are the most beneficial will be done in consultation with stakeholders (through Rail North) and will include analysis of the business case for each route to ensure that all relevant factors are considered.