Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether agreement has been reached with relevant trade unions on driver and operator arrangements for services on East West Rail; and, if not, what assessment they have made of the impact that has had on the project timetable.

The Department understands that discussions continue between Chiltern Railways and the relevant trade unions on the operational arrangements for the first phase of East West Rail. Once this has been resolved, and other preparatory works on the trains and infrastructure have been completed, it will be possible to determine an expected start date for the new services.