Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what consultation his department has undertaken with (a) local authorities, (b) Local Enterprise Partnerships and business organisations, (c) trades unions and (d) voluntary sector bodies in the south of England on the potential benefits of a southern rail link to London Heathrow Airport.

The Department has been actively engaging with many interested parties to better understand their views on this scheme. This is being done as part of the work to clarify Government’s objectives for the scheme which was a recommendation of the Market Sounding Findings Report, published in December 2018.