Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to assess the applicability of practices on continental European railway systems for developing measures to increase capacity on UK rail lines; and what assessment his Department has made of the (a) potential merits and (b) practicability of adopting double-decker trains on some UK lines.

The Department commissioned in 2007 a study by Network Rail into the use of double-decked trains which can be found at Preliminary Evaluation of Double Deck & Extra Long Train Operations. The outcome of the report found that it would not be economic to introduce double decker trains on the existing rail network.

In 2010 the Department commissioned a study by Atkins into alternatives to the building of HS2 which considered the use of double decked trains on West Coast and Midland main lines which can be found at High Speed 2 Strategic Alternatives Study Rail Interventions Report, the conclusion in respect of double decker trains rejected the idea because it was significantly more expensive and disruptive.

Network Rail have also undertaken a study to look at the potential use of double-decked trains on the Wessex Route for services into Waterloo. Details can be found at http://www.networkrail.co.uk/long-term-planning-process/Wessex-route-study/.