Manchester trains set for 'world class' service
Pledge to rail passengers on new Northern and TransPennine Express franchises
Train passengers in Greater Manchester have been promised a world class'' service with the announcement of new contracts for two rail franchises.
The Northern franchise has been awarded to Arriva Rail North and the TransPennine Express route to First TransPennine Express.
Improvements to services are set to include over 500 new carriages, with room for 40,000 extra passengers at peak times and more than 2,000 additional services a week according to the Department for Transport.
The 30-year-old Pacer trains will also be scrapped.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the “£1.2 billion boost to rail services is part of the Government's commitment to closing the economic gap between the North and the South.”
He added: we promised passengers a world class rail service that would make the Northern Powerhouse a reality - and I'm delighted that we have found two operators that will deliver exactly that.''
Mr McLoughlin added that the proposals from Arriva and FirstGroup went far beyond our requirements with exciting, ambitious plans that will make a real difference to customers''.
Shadow Transport Minister Jonathan Reynolds said:
“The problem with this government has not been how good the announcements have been when it comes to the railways it’s been the actual delivery of the projects that have been announced including the problems with the delay of the electrification programme on the Trans Pennine lines so what we need to see now is that this actually happens rather than the stop start delays which have characterised some of the improvements in the past”.
Click on the link to find the rest of the interview with the Shadow Transport Minister.