Timetable options to improve rail performance in the north of England
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
Read the full outcome
Detail of outcome
More than 800 passengers and stakeholders provided their views in response to the consultation by the Manchester Recovery Task Force (MRTF).
All contributions have helped produce a timetable structure that reflects the government and rail industry’s commitment to putting passengers at the heart of decision-making on the railway, while also noting affordability challenges, especially post-COVID-19.
This response to the consultation:
- provides a summary of the responses and how the MRTF has sought to take them into account
- outlines consultees’ views regarding the timetabling options that were presented
- responds to feedback and identifies how consultees’ thoughts have informed the timetabling recommendations
- explains the final timetable structure that has been recommended
- explains the next steps to implementing it, including a further round of consultation on the detail
Following analysis of the options, informed by the consultation feedback and further detailed work, the MRTF has recommended that Option B+, an enhanced variation of Option B that was presented in the consultation, will form the basis of a new timetable structure.
The MRTF’s recommendations will be deliverable in December 2022.
The next stage will be to implement the new timetable structure as soon as it can be ready. While detailed planning continues, there will be a second round of consultation on the detail of the timetable, which will be led by the train operators. We expect this consultation to be launched in autumn 2021.
The Department for Transport and Transport for the North will continue to work collaboratively to develop and oversee an agreed roadmap for future development, beyond 2022, of rail service and infrastructure enhancements.
Original consultation
Consultation description
We are considering 3 options aimed at improving train performance in the Manchester area and north of England by:
- simplifying and spacing service patterns more evenly
- reducing the number of services running on the most congested part of the network
- separating train movements as far as possible to minimise the amount of delay one train may cause on another
These options change the routing and frequency of some existing journeys.
We are asking for your views on:
- the principles we have been following in developing these options
- the details of the options, which are provided
- how any proposed changes may affect your journey
Documents
Updates to this page
Published 14 January 2021Last updated 12 October 2021 + show all updates
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Final outcome published.
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First published.