Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that the cross Whitehall task force to bring in mitigations against redundancies will also consider bringing forward existing refurbishment contracts for (a) Southeastern Rail and (b) Crossrail trains.

The cross-Whitehall group established by the Department for Transport is working to ensure that UK rolling stock manufacturing has a strong and sustainable future. As part of this work, my officials are exploring a wide range of options, including whether the timetable for certain procurements can be brought forward for both new and refurbished rolling stock.