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Railways: Standards

Asked by Mr Richard HoldenConservativeDepartment for TransportTabled Answered 29 June 2026UIN 12582

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many requests have been made by her Department to train operating companies to cancel rail services since 5 July 2024; which train operating companies received such requests; and what proportion of each operator's scheduled services were requested to be cancelled.

Answered by Keir Mather

The Department expects all operators to deliver services that provide capacity that responds to evolving passenger demand in a way that provides value for money for taxpayers. The Department may accept recommendations from operators to reduce services on certain days where demand is expected to be lower and expects operators to publish such changes in the planned timetable. However, cancellations to services in the published timetable are an operational matter for train operators and Network Rail in response to prevailing circumstances. The Department is not involved in these decisions.

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