Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to specify the provision of a four fast trains per hour service between London St Pancras and Luton Airport Parkway as part of the refranchising of the East Midlands route; and if he will make a statement.

The next East Midlands franchise is due to start in July 2018 and we are currently undertaking a process of information gathering to develop the high-level view of the franchise specification. We are due to begin a public consultation later this year to inform the specification. Until the views submitted through the public consultation are understood and further analysis is conducted on the options for the franchise, a firm decision cannot be taken at this stage.