Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing railway contracts into public ownership in order of operational performance.

The Government has been clear that passenger train operations will transfer to a public-sector operator as current contracts end or reach their contractual break point, avoiding the need to pay compensation to the current operators. The Secretary of State is continually monitoring performance and will not hesitate to take appropriate action when operators fall short, up to and including termination if the relevant contractual conditions are met.