Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what consent his Department provided for train operating companies to agree short-term lease options with rolling stock leasing companies in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.
Consent was provided to train operators to make short-term lease or sub-lease extensions with rolling stock owners or other operators on (a) 18 occasions in 2021, (b) 54 in 2022 and (c) 11 in 2023. These short-term extensions were mitigations for factors including late delivery of functioning new-build fleets from rolling stock manufacturers or delayed cascades of fleets from other operators.