Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 December 2017 to Question 120042, for what reasons the Answer of 11 December 2017 to Question 117958 stated that the decision to increase service frequency would be a commercial decision for the Train Operating Company to make when his Department has stated that it is not feasible for Northern Rail to increase the frequency of trains from the current hourly service on the South Fylde line without upgrading the existing single-track line infrastructure.

In the event that the South Fylde line did upgrade the existing single-track line infrastructure or the Train Operating Company were able to otherwise realise greater capacity on the network through other means it would be a commercial decision for the Train Operating Company to make. The current terms of our franchise agreement do not require or financially support the Train Operating Company’s operation of an additional level of frequency beyond the current levels.