Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with (a) South Western Railway and (b) other rail operators to increase the number of carriages on suburban routes to 10 carriages to ensure safe social distancing.

Customer numbers on South Western Railway services are currently at approximately 30% of pre-Covid levels and the service currently operated provides 85% of pre-Covid capacity. Some instances of overcrowding have been reported this year however it is individual carriages that are overcrowded rather than the whole train.

SWR are making onboard announcements asking passengers to use the whole train. The number of 10 car trains operated in the ‘peak’ has increased by over 10% since Monday 17^th May.

In preparation for the easing of restrictions, operators have already increased provision to approximately 85 per cent of pre-pandemic service levels, targeting areas of high demand. Further changes will be made this year.