Railways: Standards
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2026 to Question 14930 on Railways: Standards, whether her Department has requested management information from any state-owned Train Operating Company on service cancellations attributable to staff sickness or crew unavailability since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Keir Mather
The department is keen to ensure that the causes of service cancellations are understood and that plans are in place at Department for Transport Operator (DFTO) train operating companies to address these and improve performance. The department regularly engages DFTO to monitor the effectiveness of measures being implemented.
To help improve reliability, the department developed a seven-point traincrew framework, which includes ensuring operators have high-quality workforce plans based on realistic traincrew establishments, tackling causes of traincrew unavailability, including sickness absence, as well as taking a collaborative approach with staff representatives and the wider workforce to build a more resilient railway. The responsibility for managing this, as well as tracking and tackling the causes of cancellations, sits with DFTO and will sit with Great British Railways in the future.
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