Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that London North Eastern Railway fulfils the commitment made by Virgin Trains East Coast to operate a direct train service between Middlesbrough and London King's Cross; and when the planned start date is for that service.

The Department is working with Network Rail to deliver infrastructure enhancements on the East Coast Main Line planned to be delivered in the early 2020s, and with London North Eastern Railway (LNER) to introduce into service a new fleet of trains through the Intercity Express Programme planned to be fully introduced in 2020. It remains our intention to deliver additional services to Middlesbrough when capacity is available to do so.