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Written question asked by Richard Holden (Conservative) on Friday, 29 May 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 2 June 2026. It was answered by Keir Mather (Labour) on Monday, 8 June 2026 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Northern: Standards

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress Northern Trains Limited has made on increasing the level of Assisted Travel Support through a dedicated team since the publication of its service targets on 17 December 2025; and what steps are being taken to reduce the number of failed passenger assistances on that network.

Answer

Through its Passenger Assistance Improvement Programme, Northern Trains has increased the level of ‘All assistance received’ from 76.4 per cent to 84.4 per cent between January and April 2026 (period 11 – period 1), and satisfaction with assistance has improved from 84 per cent to 85.9 per cent over the same period.

Prior to the improvement programme ‘all assistance received’ was 64 per cent and satisfaction at 75 per cent (period 4 2024-25), demonstrating how the rollout of the programme initiatives is having a positive impact.

Northern continues with embedding its improvements through a continuous improvement programme which includes investigating every single incomplete assist each day, along with a mystery shopping regime that currently assesses more than 130 customer experiences every four weeks.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
4289
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Disability Standards Northern
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk