Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer on 7th November 2022 of Question 80960 on Southeastern Railway, for what reasons his Department agreed to grant Southeastern Railway a derogation from the requirement to consult on their December 2022 train timetable changes.

Rail operators, including Southeastern, have been working at pace to respond to changing passenger travel patterns since the pandemic, as it is crucial that industry stays alert to fluctuations in demand whilst delivering good value for the taxpayer and responds accordingly. Therefore, the Department agreed to consider requests from operators for derogations against the requirement to formally consult on timetable changes throughout 2022. Subsequently, on 5 August 2022 the Department issued Southeastern with a formal derogation against the requirement to undertake a consultation exercise in respect of its December 2022 timetable changes.