Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many of Hitachi’s Intercity Class 800 series trains were found to have failings in three or more joints; and how many of those trains have (a) been repaired and (b) remain affected.

The mitigations put in place on 13 May mean that these trains are monitored more frequently and intrusively. If any issues are found, then trains are withdrawn for further checks. These mitigations were created by Hitachi, and then independently verified, and train operators conducted their own risk assessments against these mitigations. All of this was overseen by the independent regulator.

This is a live operational issue and the numbers affected and unaffected by cracks change every day. However, no trains are put into service if they do not meet the mitigations put in place. The mitigations have been signed off by all parties involved and overseen by inspectors from the independent Office of Rail and Road.