Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Gower on 30 January (HL1680), how the current quality of service provided by train operating companies can be assessed when service quality regime scores for April-October 2023 are only now under evaluation.

The Department regularly assesses the quality of service provided by the train operators, including through independent inspections that take place across the network every Rail Period, which is typically every 28 days. The results are used to inform frequent performance discussions and are published online for passengers.

Performance Fees for service quality are based on scores achieved over a longer Assessment Period. This is annual in the current National Rail Contracts and was bi-annual in previous contracts.