Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Great Western Rail and South Western franchises will be included in his Department's proposals for shared responsibility with Network Rail.

The Secretary of State outlined his vision for the future alignment of track and train in the Written Ministerial Statement issued on 6 December. The current Great Western Direct Award franchise is assumed to expire March 2020. The Department is exploring a range of delivery options for the Great Western Franchise beyond March 2020 with the aim of closer integration between track and train. The Department is running a competition to award the next South Western franchise, which is expected to start in August 2017. In the Invitation to Tender the Department required the next franchisee to collaborate with Network Rail to improve performance, project delivery and service to passengers. Bidders were required to demonstrate how they had engaged with Network Rail in the development of aligned objectives for the Franchise going forward, including areas for joint working.