Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much money from the public purse has been spent on Hitachi’s Intercity Class 800 series.

122 Hitachi Series 800 trains were procured under the Governments Intercity Express Programme. This was a £5.6bn public private partnership that was signed between the Department and Agility/Hitachi.

Disruption has been most significant on the Great Western Railway (GWR) network on intercity services, as well as some London North Eastern Railway (LNER) and a small number of TransPennine Express services.

The agreements in place contain provisions that protect the taxpayer. We have been clear with the industry that we expect those who have the contractual performance and train availability obligations, including Agility Trains, to fully compensate the taxpayer in this matter.