Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the emergency timetable for Southern Rail services to be introduced from 11 July 2016 is in breach of the level of planned service train cancellations set out in the Remedial Plan agreed between Govia Thameslink Railway and his Department in February 2016.

Under the Franchise Agreement, where GTR can provide the evidence that cancellations are due to official or unofficial industrial action, they can claim Force Majeure, which they have done. The Govia Thameslink Railway Franchise Agreement in Schedule 7.1 sets out the performance benchmarks and financial regime that is in place in relation to cancellations. A copy of the Franchise Agreement can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/govia-thameslink .

The department is monitoring the position on a regular basis.