Department for Transport written question – answered at on 13 January 2015.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his Written Statement of 8 January 2015, WS175, on Rail in the North: Rolling Stock, how many seats are available on Northern Rail and TransPennine Express; how many seats will be available once the new rolling stock comes into service; when he expects this rolling stock to be put into service; and how long he expects such rolling stock to remain in service.
From May 2015, five Class 170 trains move from TransPennine Express (TPE) to Chiltern representing a total of 515 Standard seats. The additional trains announced on 8 January (in WS175), will provide six Class 319 electric trains adding 1800 more seats to the Northern train fleet. This follows the Department for Transport reaching a deal with Northern Rail in April 2014 for them to receive 14 Class 319 electric trains. The first of these are currently undergoing refurbishment with the 14 trains due to enter service during 2015. There are 300 seats on each train making a total of 4200 seats.
Changes to the train services between Manchester and Blackpool as a result of the announcement in WS175 will see many TPE services that currently offer 154 Standard seats per train operated by four coach Class 156 diesel trains offering 300 seats. As the Written Statement 8 January 2015 (WS175) sets out, the Department for Transport will make a further announcement in due course regarding additional capacity to be provided on the Cumbrian Coast line from May 2015.
The solution set out will be introduced in the coming months. The rolling stock will remain in service on the franchises at least until February 2016 when the current franchise terms end.
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