Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly today announced a capacity increase of 53% for peak hour commuter trains serving Leeds to meet the expected demand for rail travel.
Additional capacity will be provided by lengthening trains on key routes operated by Trans-Pennine Express, with a 30% increase in capacity on the northern section. Extra carriages will be available on Leeds and Sheffield suburban services. The enhancements are planned from 2009, with all the extra capacity in place by 2014.
Network Rail has been asked to tackle bottlenecks in the Leeds and Manchester areas by 2014. As a result, journey times on fast services between Manchester and Leeds will be cut to 43 minutes.
Cleethorpes and Northallerton stations are likely to be among 150 stations nationally which will be refurbished to become more accessible and attractive for passengers, at a total cost of £150 million.
The announcements are included in today's rail White Paper, Delivering a Sustainable Railway, which guarantees a railway that will expand to carry at least 180 million more passengers a year in England and Wales.
The Transport Secretary announced that capacity will increase to accommodate growth of more than 20 per cent in the next seven years, on a network which will be even safer and more reliable.
The strategy also allows for a potential doubling in capacity over 30 years through continual and rational growth of a rail network which is flexible enough to respond to changing passenger demand.
It must also be a railway which sharpens its environmental performance and thrives on new technology, the strategy makes clear.
Precise, costed plans for the near future include approval for the £5.5 billion Thameslink project, the major redevelopment of Birmingham New Street to improve passenger capacity and station environment, works at Reading stations to eliminate a major bottleneck on the network, and £200 million to start work on a strategic freight network.
Major cities around the country will benefit from extra capacity - with the Government delivering 1,300 extra carriages in the years to 2014. Up to £10 billion will be invested in growing capacity in this period.
Ms Kelly said: "Our railway is flourishing and in this White Paper we show how we will grow and develop the network for decades to come.
"Passengers in Yorkshire want not only more capacity and reliability on their trains but also more modern stations, simple and efficient ticketing, quality of service and value for money. They're right to be so demanding and this strategy can deliver what they want.
"Steady investment has given us a rail network which is in good shape for the first time in a generation and this means we can be ambitious for its future. It should be a railway which helps power economic growth and enhances the quality of our lives. We can't know precisely what our railway will look like in 30 years time but now we can be confident of making it bigger, stronger and more flexible."
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 queues, station access improved and passenger information improved.
The Government formally submitted its spending plans (including the High Level Output Specification) today for approval by the Office of Rail Regulation.
Additional capacity will be provided by lengthening trains on key routes operated by Trans-Pennine Express, with a 30% increase in capacity on the northern section. Extra carriages will be available on Leeds and Sheffield suburban services. The enhancements are planned from 2009, with all the extra capacity in place by 2014.
Network Rail has been asked to tackle bottlenecks in the Leeds and Manchester areas by 2014. As a result, journey times on fast services between Manchester and Leeds will be cut to 43 minutes.
Cleethorpes and Northallerton stations are likely to be among 150 stations nationally which will be refurbished to become more accessible and attractive for passengers, at a total cost of £150 million.
The announcements are included in today's rail White Paper, Delivering a Sustainable Railway, which guarantees a railway that will expand to carry at least 180 million more passengers a year in England and Wales.
The Transport Secretary announced that capacity will increase to accommodate growth of more than 20 per cent in the next seven years, on a network which will be even safer and more reliable.
The strategy also allows for a potential doubling in capacity over 30 years through continual and rational growth of a rail network which is flexible enough to respond to changing passenger demand.
It must also be a railway which sharpens its environmental performance and thrives on new technology, the strategy makes clear.
Precise, costed plans for the near future include approval for the £5.5 billion Thameslink project, the major redevelopment of Birmingham New Street to improve passenger capacity and station environment, works at Reading stations to eliminate a major bottleneck on the network, and £200 million to start work on a strategic freight network.
Major cities around the country will benefit from extra capacity - with the Government delivering 1,300 extra carriages in the years to 2014. Up to £10 billion will be invested in growing capacity in this period.
Ms Kelly said: "Our railway is flourishing and in this White Paper we show how we will grow and develop the network for decades to come.
"Passengers in Yorkshire want not only more capacity and reliability on their trains but also more modern stations, simple and efficient ticketing, quality of service and value for money. They're right to be so demanding and this strategy can deliver what they want.
"Steady investment has given us a rail network which is in good shape for the first time in a generation and this means we can be ambitious for its future. It should be a railway which helps power economic growth and enhances the quality of our lives. We can't know precisely what our railway will look like in 30 years time but now we can be confident of making it bigger, stronger and more flexible."
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 queues, station access improved and passenger information improved.
The Government formally submitted its spending plans (including the High Level Output Specification) today for approval by the Office of Rail Regulation.
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