Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2016 to Question 55749, what progress has been made by his Department's investment board in considering the business case submitted by Southeastern Railway for additional rolling stock.

The Department’s investment board considered Southeastern’s proposal in December 2016. We have concluded the plans are not deliverable as previously proposed, principally because depot-related costs have escalated significantly. As a result, the Department has asked Southeastern and GTR (both owned by Govia) to work together to provide alternative workable solutions for offering additional extra capacity in Southeastern for 2017, including credible stabling options.