(LD): To ask His Majesty’s
Government what discussions they have had with train operators
about changes to the East Coast Mainline timetable in December
2024.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Transport () (Con): My Lords, the
department holds regular discussions with its operators to ensure
that they continue to respond to changes in demand, balancing
capacity and reliability with value for money for taxpayers. As
part of the December 2023 timetable change, the department agreed
that London North Eastern Railway should provide some additional
Sunday services and the Rail North Partnership agreed some
reductions to Transpennine Express
services to stabilise the service while it completes its driver
training programme.
(Con): My Lords, I declare
my interest as chairman of Transport for the North. Some of the
difficult decisions that have had to be taken have been partly
because of the upgrading of the trans-Pennine
route, which is a huge investment as far as the Government are
concerned over the next few years. Will my noble friend assure us
that the planned upgrade for York station, which will allow
greater capacity eventually to serve areas such as
Berwick-upon-Tweed, is in the Government’s future plans?
(Con): A lot of these
changes to the trans-Pennine route are part of
the Making Journeys Better plan, outlining how Transpennine Express under
DfT OLR Holdings will work to make things better. Having
completed an in-depth review of the business, these services are
expected to be restored from December 2024. I will have to come
back to my noble friend on his question about the railway
station...
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