To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of proposals to reduce rail services to Wigan North Western.
Answered on
16 March 2021
The Manchester Recovery Task Force, a cross-industry group comprising both the train operators and Network Rail, is consulting on its proposals aimed at solving, in the short-term, the performance problems of Manchester’s complex railway network by amending the timetable structure.
The Task Force is made up of industry experts and appraises the work and provides direction in preparation for a decision by the Rail North Partnership following public consultation. Among the members of this taskforce is a representative from Transport for Greater Manchester who, alongside other members including Transport for the North, has contributed their local expertise to the development of the options. This work has also been supported by rail officers from across the north.
The merits of each of the options are continuing to be assessed and will be considered alongside the responses to the consultation before any decisions are made. Each of the options has been assessed using two established quantitative methods:
- a rail passenger demand model, which calculates the effects on passenger numbers of changes in proposed timetables; and
- a rail simulation model that calculates the expected amount of delay for any given timetable.
Further details about this are explained in the public consultation document below:
www.gov.uk/government/news/consultation-launched-to-improve-manchesters-railways