Transport authorities join forces

TWO Northern transport authorities are to join forces to campaign for more train carriages in their regions.

Metro – the West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority – will work alongside its Greater Manchester counterpart to put pressure on the coalition government over the lack of progress in easing overcrowding.

The two executives have been lobbying the Department of Transport for two years to find a cost-effective way to solve the problem.

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Councillor Ryk Downes, chair of Metro, said of the 182 carriages originally promised for the Northern Rail network, only a few had actually been approved.

"We need to demonstrate that the economic benefits of providing more carriages apply right across the region, particularly as we emerge from recession," he said.

Many services between West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester are already heavily overcrowded, he said, as rail demand continues to increase in both counties and commuters face unacceptably crowded journeys.

A National Audit Office report this month revealed that plans to increase rail capacity are not producing extra seats. It said that although taxpayer funding to train firms is set to remain close to 1.2bn, expected improvements will not materialise.

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GMITA chair Coun Keith Whitmore said: "The recent National Audit Office report observes that the DfT's latest plans have already taken into account the drop in demand due to the recession. This has led to the capacity being planned for the Leeds and Manchester areas being trimmed back by over a third."