Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the suitability of the HS2 order of 8-carriage trains with 504 seats and no tilt ability compared to the current Pendolino trains, particularly in regard to journey times between London and Scotland.

High-speed services will provide more reliable and faster end-to-end journeys to Birmingham, the Northwest and Scotland using the new, dedicated high-speed infrastructure despite the train's inability to tilt on the west coast Mainline. Moving long distance trains onto HS2 will create opportunities for additional services on the West Coast Mainline. No decisions have been made on the timetable which will operate when HS2 opens. These decisions will be made nearer the time and be subject to consultation.