Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the comfort and suitability of the passenger seating in any new rolling stock (1) on Great Western intercity services, (2) on East Coast services, and (3) on Thameslink services; and whether such new rolling stock represents an improvement in the passenger experience.

Seating on new rolling stock is required to both address comfort of passengers and conform to the relevant design standards, which includes addressing fire safety and crash worthiness.

Train operators as the end users for the new Thameslink trains and intercity trains operating on Great Western and LNER routes have worked with the manufacturers to deliver seating that is compliant with the requirements, including testing with passenger representatives.