Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2026 to Question 121397 on Ribble Valley Line: Rolling Stock, what changes have been made to Northern's Train Formation Capacity Plans for the Clitheroe–Manchester line since March 2026; and when she expects four-carriage formations to be consistently provided on scheduled four-carriage peak-time services.

Trains operating Clitheroe-Rochdale are primarily scheduled to be operated by four-car formations and trains operating Blackburn-Rochdale which cover the same route are scheduled to be operated by two-car trains.

There have been almost no changes on this route since the December 2025 Train Formation Capacity Plan; the only exception is that since May 2026 the 07:21 departure should now be formed of a three-car service at minimum where previously it was only two.

Northern has a limited number of diesel trains in its fleet. It does its best to match train capacity with expected passenger demand but unfortunately there are occasions when trains run with fewer than planned carriages because more trains than usual require repair. Northern’s maintenance team works to return all train sets to service at the earliest opportunity, and Northern is also talking to other train operators to see if they have spare trains which could increase Northern’s capacity and reliability.