Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department was consulted on the decision to remove the buffet café-bar service from all Great Western Intercity Express trains.

The specification of the trains was developed by the Department to deliver the outcomes it wanted to achieve with the new fleet, including more passenger seats, more leg room, increased capacity, reduced journey time, increased reliability and greater passenger comfort. This specification included an extensive, consultation process including with the train operator that was recognised by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and awarded the User Centred Product Design Award. The process involved numerous passenger groups representing commuters, cyclists, wheel chair users and visually impaired travellers.