Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of potential redundancies at Hitachi Rail UK Ltd’s Bounds Green and Craigentinny Train Maintenance Centres on LNER; and what steps he is taking to reduce those costs.

LNER directs the day to day operation of their railway services and as a result they are responsible for the management of their contract with Hitachi Rail. However, as LNER is owned and overseen by the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Public Sector Operator, DfT OLR Holdings Ltd the Government ultimately holds full cost and revenue risk.

The negotiations between Hitachi Rail and LNER are currently ongoing. The final cost to the taxpayer has not been confirmed at this stage of the negotiations and will depend on a number of factors under discussion, including final agreement on the number of redundancies.

We are in regular contact with both Hitachi Rail and LNER and are monitoring their ongoing discussions with regards to this matter closely. However, these discussions are ultimately a commercial and contractual matter for both parties to negotiate. LNER and Hitachi will need to work together to resolve this issue in a manner that ensures the best outcome for passengers, employees and the taxpayer.