The improvements have been made possible as a result of East Midlands Trains working with the Department for Transport to secure four additional trains for its network.

The introduction of these trains means that an additional 10 trains every weekday on the busy Nottingham-Sheffield-Liverpool route will be strengthened to provide double the seating capacity.

In addition, and following passenger andstakeholder feedback, the 13.52 Liverpool to Nottingham service will beextended through to Norwich.

Rail Minister Theresa Villiers said: “These extra carriages are great news for passengers. The Government is determined to tackle overcrowding and provide better, more comfortable journeys, whichis why we are funding this extra capacity.

“We are now embarked on one of the biggest programmes of rail capacity expansion since the Victorian era. In total we plan to introduce 2,700 new rail carriages on to the network by May 2019. These vital improvements will support economic growth and make life better for passengers.”

David Horne, Managing Director of East MidlandsTrains, said:  “We’ve already made some significant improvements for passengers using services on our Liverpool to Norwich line, with refurbished trains, additional seats and an improved timetable.  This has all helped to improve customer satisfaction on this line, with the most recent independent passenger survey showing that 92% of passengers are satisfied with their service.

“However, we want to continue building on that success and are therefore very pleased to be launching so many extra seats for passengers travelling from Nottingham and Sheffield through to Manchester and Liverpool. 

“We would like to thank our passengers and stakeholders for their steadfast support in helping us to bring about these improvements.”

David Brown, Director General for the SouthYorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE), added: “We have long argued for more seating capacity on these key routes to make the journeys more enjoyable for those people wishing to travel.  These additional seats will create much required capacity to enable people to travel incomfort between South Yorkshire, Nottingham, Manchester and Liverpool.”

East Midlands Trains joined forces with NorthernRail at an event in Sheffield earlier today to mark the introduction ofthe additional seats being provided by both train operators.  Picturedare David Horne, Managing Director for East Midlands Trains, Steve Butcher, Chief Operating Officer from Northern Rail, and David Brown, Director Generalof the SYPTE with two of the services providing extra seats.

City.Mobi

Also in England today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new guide to Manchester.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Manchester.mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.