Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the penalties are for train operators that have not provided the level of service that they are contracted to deliver; what compensation is available to passengers of Northern Rail that have not met contractual obligations services; what steps he is taking to improve the provision of rail services in Rochdale; and whether he plans to withdraw the franchise of operators which have not fulfilled their contractual obligations.

Under the terms of the Franchise Agreement there is a performance regime which deals with poor performance in the areas of cancellations, delays and reduced capacity. Under the Delay Repay scheme, Northern passengers are entitled to compensation if a delay to their train journey means they are delayed in reaching their destination by 15mins or more. Delay Repay for those journeys delayed 15mins or more was announced by the Secretary of State later last year and introduced by Northern on 16 December 2018. As part of this, the Secretary of State has tasked Richard George, an independent industry expert, to assist with railway industry performance improvement in the region covered by TfN. The Secretary of State has no hesitation in enforcing that any of his rights under the Franchise Agreement for operators not fulfilling their contractual obligations.