Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of Avanti West Coast's franchise performance obligations for the current reporting period.

Operator performance is independently evaluated against set criteria and considers all elements within the operator's control.

Independent consideration of Avanti West Coast’s performance for the current period will be carried out following the end of the evaluation period on 15 October 2022.

As part of this evaluation, the outcome of the Department’s decision (yet to be taken) on AWC’s claim for contractual relief under Force Majeure provisions will be a factor.