Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish his Department's strategy on rolling stock procurement.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

I wrote to train manufacturers in January 2024 to provide an overview of current and expected rolling stock opportunities, which include upcoming competitions being run by Northern, Southeastern, TransPennine and Chiltern. This is published on-line here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/current-and-expected-rolling-stock-procurement-opportunities. These contracts are worth an estimated £3.6 billion alongside significant maintenance and refurbishment opportunities. I have asked my officials to consider what additional information we could provide to the market in the coming months.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the (a) Avanti and (b) South Western train contracts.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

For Avanti West Coast (AWC), no assessment has been made as the operator has a contract with a core term until 15 October 2026, after which the Department can terminate the contract at any point with three months' notice.

The National Rail Contract for South Western Railway ends in May 2025 having been extended by the maximum two-year period to a maximum term of four years. A Prior Information Notice was issued on 2 April 2024 setting out the Department’s intention to seek to obtain a Direct Award with SWR at the end of the current contract. The proposed Direct Award is expected to have a core term of three years and a potential maximum term of up to eight years.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representation he has received on the future of UK rail manufacturing capability.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

My Department has engaged extensively with the four train manufacturers with facilities in the UK, train operators and rolling stock owners to ensure a sustainable future for UK rail manufacturing. Rail manufacturing plays an important role in growing the UK economy and there is now a strong pipeline of future orders. In January 2024, I wrote to train manufacturers with details of planned and expected procurements, which include upcoming competitions being run by Northern, Southeastern, TransPennine and Chiltern. These contracts are worth an estimated £3.6 billion alongside significant maintenance and refurbishment opportunities.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations they have received from (a) Hitachi and (b) Alstom on their redundancy consultations.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

My Department has been in intensive discussion with Alstom since the company announced a consultation on potential redundancies at its train manufacturing site in Derby in November 2023. Hitachi is not currently consulting on redundancies at its train manufacturing site in Newton Aycliffe, but my Department has met Hitachi Rail’s UK management team several times in recent months to discuss workload at the company’s Newton Aycliffe site.

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