Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of capacity at Manchester Piccadilly railway station.

This government set up the Manchester Task Force to assess the issues in Manchester and deliver a track and train strategy to improve services for the passenger. The Task Force assessed the capacity and performance at Manchester Piccadilly as part of the development of the December 2022 timetable. The successful implementation of this timetable, which has significantly reduced delays within Manchester, is the first phase in the programme. Last month this government announced a further £72m infrastructure package around Manchester Victoria to make train journeys for passengers more reliable in Greater Manchester. I look forward to receiving further business cases, including interventions at Manchester Airport, Oxford Road and the modernisation of the Liverpool to Manchester route via Warrington Central in the foreseeable future.