Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the East Midlands franchise was awarded to Abellio until 2027 before the conclusion of the Williams review.

The government will publish a White Paper setting out how we will implement the Review’s recommendations in the autumn. Reform will start as early as 2020. This does not prevent us taking every opportunity in the short term to improve passengers’ experience.

We considered on a case-by-case basis whether to continue with the current franchise competitions and concluded that awarding the East Midlands franchise now would be in the best interests of passengers and taxpayers and would allow planned passenger benefits, such as new trains, to be delivered at the earliest opportunity.