Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the (a) equality impact assessment and (b) feasibility studies on increased passenger numbers at Kettering railway station.

The public consultation included proposals to improve intercity journey times between Sheffield (via Derby), Nottingham and London St Pancras by not stopping as often at stations used by commuters, such as Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough and Kettering. Passengers at these stations would instead be served by dedicated and more capacious high quality trains operating on the Corby–London route. The consultation sought views on these proposals given that, although the majority of passengers will benefit, a minority of passengers would need to change trains to complete their journeys as direct services would be reduced. We are currently reviewing the responses to that consultation and no decisions have been taken yet regarding the future timetable.

Both a) an equality impact assessment and b) a Kettering passenger number analysis will be carried out by the Department to inform this decision and we will publish them at the appropriate time.