Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of current penalties issued to train operating companies in instances of short-forming on services.

The operational performance regime, including the approach to short formations, seeks to improve the alignment of operator performance and outputs with government priorities. It focuses the performance-based element of the contract on aspects that include the operational performance of the railway, the passenger experience, financial performance and collaborative behaviours; it encourages operators to minimise cancellations and short-formations, and only resort to such practices when they are in passengers' and the industry's best interests.