Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the practice of train operating companies terminating trains before they reach their advertised destinations, what steps they are taking to prevent such a practice except in exceptional circumstances.

When trains are terminated before they reach their advertised destination, for contractual purposes, this is considered to be a part or full cancellation depending on how much of the planned journey is completed. If performance falls short of an operator’s contractual obligations, the Department can require them to incur expenditure to improve. Whilst terminating trains early clearly impacts passengers, train operating companies say it is sometimes necessary to prevent more significant delays or potential further cancellations for a larger number of passengers, or if calling at a specific station would be unsafe or the line is blocked.