Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has been made of passenger demand and capacity on Great Western Railway services between Kemble and London Paddington, and what steps are being taken to ensure that service provision reflects demand on this route.

Great Western Railway (GWR) is responsible for ensuring sufficient allocation of capacity to meet demand on its rail services. Departmental officials monitor this carefully using available industry data. Officials hold regular discussions with GWR to ensure service levels and capacity provision is optimised to accommodate demand between Kemble and London Paddington. GWR has experienced an increase in short formations on services across its intercity train fleet in recent periods, including on services between Kemble and Paddington, due to issues with the diesel engines. These issues have now stabilised, with a noticeable reduction in recent weeks, and the Department continues to monitor this closely.