Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many new (a) automatic ticket gates and (b) ticket vending machines will be introduced at stations on the Essex Thameside route under the terms of the new franchise agreement with NXET Trains Ltd for rail passenger services.

The standstill period for the Essex Thameside franchise competition has not yet concluded, as such the Department has not signed the new Franchise Agreement and we are not able to confirm this information at this time. An announcement will be made shortly once the Agreement has been signed. There is already a gate at every station on the franchise and all stations have Ticket Vending Machines (with the exception of West Ham, which is managed by Transport for London). Additional ticket validation will be provided at Dagenham Dock to support step free access at that station.