Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2015 to Question 665, what assessment he has made of the effect on capacity on the TransPennine route of the delay to electrification.

The timing of TransPennine electrification does not affect the provision of future capacity on the TransPennine route. To address existing crowding and accommodate future growth, the Department’s specification for the next TransPennine Express franchise requires approximately 45 per cent more seats to be provided in the three-hour morning peak into Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield combined (compared to when the Invitation to Tender was issued to short-listed bidders in February). Bidders were required to set out how they will deliver this increase by December 2018, without relying on electrification of the route.

Bids for the future franchise were submitted late last month and are now being evaluated. The outcome of the competition will be announced towards the end of this year.