Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what safeguards are in place to help ensure that rolling stock currently allocated to services operated by West Midlands Trains remains allocated to those routes following transfer into public ownership; and what criteria will be used by Great British Railways when determining the geographic allocation or reallocation of rolling stock.

The Department for Transport (DfT), and the Department’s Rail Operator (DFTO) currently have no plans to reallocate rolling stock in use by West Midlands Trains and, as part of the recent transfer into public ownership, all leases have been extended until at least 2028.

Under Great British Railways (GBR) we expect it to be easier to move rolling stock in response to changed circumstances than it is today. The criteria for such decisions will be developed in due course ahead of GBR’s establishment.