Railways: East Coast Main Line Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateLord Shutt of Greetland
Main Page: Lord Shutt of Greetland (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Shutt of Greetland's debates with the Department for Transport
(6 years, 7 months ago)
Lords ChamberMy Lords, of course I understand the position of the staff. It is important that they have confidence in their jobs, and that is why we are looking through two options for the continuation of services up to 2020, and why, from 2020, we will be introducing the new public/private partnership.
My Lords, we are promised that on 20 May we will have the biggest timetable change in 10 or 15 years—this is a mere 67 days hence. I looked at the east coast website this morning, and there is no detail about this timetable. Is the change dependent on whoever gets the franchise, or will we have the timetable that Virgin Trains may have speculated it could run from 20 May?
My Lords, the timetable is not dependent on the decision made between the two options. I understand there has been a delay to the timetable, for which I apologise. The operator and Network Rail are working through the options and are looking to publish it as soon as they possibly can.