Space for up to an extra 8,800 rail passengers is being created on key commuter services in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle, Rail Minister Theresa Villiers announced today.
Under a deal funded by the Government, passengers on Northern Rail are to benefit from an extra 22 train carriages.
Separate agreements also deliver an extra six carriages to First Great Western and an additional 4 carriages to London Midland.
Theresa Villiers said:
“I am delighted we have been able to finalise these important deals which will make a real difference to passengers. Even at a time when we are tackling the huge deficit we inherited, we are determined to invest in Britain’s future.
“That is why we’re committed to a major investment programme in our railways to deliver a big increase in capacity to ease crowding and provide commuters with more comfortable journeys.”
“Today’s good news has been made possible by our plans to introduce 2,700 new rail carriages on to the network by May 2019.
“We are also committed to the completion of the vital Crossrail and Thameslink projects in London and we are investing £900m in rail electrification.
“In the longer term our plans for a high speed rail network will free up a huge amount of space on our current network for more commuter trains – with some towns potentially seeing a near doubling of services.
“As well as improving life for passengers, these rail improvements will play an important role in strengthening economic growth.”
The extra carriages, which will be in service from December 2011, are becoming available as a result of the planned deployment of 69 new train carriages which are being delivered to London Midland for use in the Birmingham area.
This then allows for the carriages currently being used by London Midland to serve passengers using Northern Rail and First Great Western services.
Consequently some First Great Western trains are to be released to serve Northern Rail passengers.
A whole 6 carriages across the whole FGW network. Cor, that’s going to make a world of difference to the Bristol commuting experience.
Pitiful.