Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2019 to Question 257748, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of aligning the track and the operator of the East Coast franchise.

The East Coast Partnership is working to deliver reliable and high quality rail services for passengers, this includes considering options for how, in the future, the operation of track and train might be better aligned. This is being overseen by an independent board, which is due to report to the Secretary of State later this year. The Board is chaired by Tony Poulter, a non-executive Director at the Department for Transport, and has members from Network Rail, the intercity operator, London North Eastern Railway (LNER), the Department for Transport and independent members.