Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent changes there have been to fares and rolling stock on the Northern and TransPennine franchises.

Since December 2013 a £60million investment has delivered ten brand new Class 350 trains for Transpennine Express providing additional capacity. Fares set by TransPennine Express have not changed since January 2014.

There have been no recent changes to the Northern Rail fleet.

From 8 September, Northern introduced an evening peak period for the main cities during which off-peak tickets cannot be used. This will have no impact for season ticket holders. Northern believe this may reduce crowding for peak time commuters.