Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many responses he has had to date to the consultation on Transpennine and Northern Rail franchises; and in what area each respondent to that consultation is resident.

The Department for Transport is currently conducting a joint public consultation with Rail North which will inform the specifications for both the Northern and TransPennine Express franchises. To date we have received 131 formal responses to the consultation from various people and organisations across the North of England. This number does not include responses to our online survey (which will be collected at the end of the consultation). These responses have not yet been fully analysed as the consultation is ongoing but they cover a wide range of themes. We will publish a stakeholder briefing document setting out a summary of responses to the consultation and how they were taken account of when we publish the Invitations to Tender (ITTs) for the franchises, expected in December 2014.

The consultation can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/future-of-northern-and-transpennine-express-rail-franchises and concludes 18th August. No decisions have yet been taken.