Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the performance and quality of rolling stock on the national rail network.

Under successive Governments, the quality of rolling stock on the national network has not kept up with either demand or passengers’ expectations. This is why replacement and renewal of rolling stock is an integral part of the Government’s ambitious plans for the rail network.

Improvements in rolling stock are key to the Government’s Rail Investment Strategy, with a record £38 billion being spent as part of the largest modernisation of the railways since Victorian times.

This includes the new Intercity Express trains that will be built in the UK and serve passengers travelling on Great Western and East Coast, as well as the new Thameslink trains that will operate on commuter routes north and south of London.