Great Western Railway: Rolling Stock
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of rolling stock availability for Great Western Railway services in the South West; how many Class 175 units are in operation on Great Western Railway services; how many drivers and conductors Great Western Railway plans to train to operate those units; and what plans she has to mitigate (a) cancellations and (b) overcrowding on those services.
Answered by Keir Mather
The Department closely monitors rolling stock availability across the South West as well as the wider network, and is working on a rolling stock strategy to more effectively plan and utilise assets in future. There is currently one Class 175 unit in operation on Great Western Railway services. The first Class 175 entered service in December 2025, with the remainder of the fleet due to follow throughout this year. There is sufficient rolling stock to operate the current timetable, and the introduction of the Class 175s will provide additional resilience and capacity. Driver and conductor training is progressing well to support this deployment.
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