Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-12-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the economic benefits to the Calder Valley of the award of the new Northern rail franchise.

Andrew Jones

The Calder Valley route between Manchester and Bradford will see more trains and faster journeys, with the weekday service frequency between Bradford and Manchester being enhanced by 50% (from two to three trains per hour), a significant increase in evening services, a doubling of Sunday service frequency from one to two trains per hour, and new direct links from Bradford to Manchester Airport and from Bradford to Liverpool.

Add this to the withdrawal of all Pacers by the end of 2019, an investment of £400 million in 281 brand newcarriages (some of which will operate on the new Bradford-Manchester Airport and Bradford-Liverpool services), and the refurbishment of the rest of the Northern fleet, we expect these enhancements to result in very substantial economic benefits for the area.