Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has had discussions with Northern Rail and Avanti West Coast on the potential merits of (i) simpler and (ii) cheaper train tickets in (a) Stockport and (b) Greater Manchester.

This Government remains committed to making ticketing simpler and more flexible for passengers. Passengers in Stockport and Greater Manchester are benefiting from simpler fares which were introduced in December 2025. Overall, the change means that the average fare in Greater Manchester fell by 5.6%.

Working with operators, Pay As You Go with contactless on rail in Manchester will arrive in December this year as part of the Bee Network expansion, initially covering 17 stations.