Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly has announced a capacity increase of 41 per cent for peak hour commuter trains serving Manchester to meet the expected demand for rail travel.
Extra carriages will be provided to lengthen many trains through Manchester and Liverpool operated by Trans Pennine Express, with a 30 per cent increase in capacity on the north Trans-Pennine route. The enhancements are planned from 2009, with all the extra capacity in place by 2014.
Network Rail has been asked to tackle bottlenecks affecting the region by 2014. As a result, journey times between Liverpool and Manchester will be reduced to 40 minutes and fast services between Manchester and Leeds cut to 43 minutes.
Bolton and Chester stations are likely to be among a list of 150 stations nationwide that will be refurbished to become more accessible and attractive to passengers, at a total cost of £150 million.
The announcement is part of the Government’s plans to ensure that the national rail network can carry at least 180 million more passengers a year.
Ms Kelly also announced that the Government will continue to limit fare increases under its control (including standard season tickets and savers) to no more than one per cent above inflation. A new simplified fares structure will introduce just four basic ticket types across the country, ticket retailing will be streamlined to reduce ticket office queue’s and station access and passenger information improved.
The White Paper, Delivering a Sustainable Railway, is published by the Department for Transport and available from its website at http://www.dft.gov.uk
