Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 20 February 2023 to Question 142779 on Rolling Stock: North East, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of potential rolling stock production gaps on (a) employment and (b) local economies in the North East.

The department keeps the impacts of the domestic market for rolling stock on UK manufacturers under regular review and works closely with rolling stock companies and train operators to understand when new trains are required. However, passenger trains are major assets with a lifetime of 35-40 years and there will naturally be peaks and troughs in the procurement cycle. As the market for rolling stock is a competitive one, there can be no guarantee of orders for individual manufacturers, and they will need to factor these into their own business planning decisions.