Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking with the Home Secretary and (a) French and (b) EU authorities to help ensure progress towards delivering a frictionless border for international train travel in and out of the UK.

The Department for Transport is working with Home Office and Border Force to ensure the UK is border ready for the restart of international travel. This includes improving automation to meet the new biosecurity check requirements and deploying additional Border Force officers to reduce queue times as much as possible.

Ministers and officials meet regularly with their French counterparts to discuss matters concerning the UK-France border and have established a joint UK and France technical working group.

Government has also established a rhythm of regular engagement fora with industry across all modes of transport to support the effective flow of information and active dialogue across both short and longer term border priorities. This includes bi-annual, joint Border Force and DfT-led roundtables with senior officials and quarterly Border Facilitation groups.