Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has plans to extend its consultation entitled A railway fit for Britain's future, published on 18 February 2025.

We are not intending to extend the consultation ‘A railway fit for Britain’s future’. We understand that the eight-week timeline will be unwelcome for some, but we are also keenly aware that passengers and freight customers have waited far too long to see the improvements to the railway that they rightly expect and deserve. We need to move quickly to legislate in this Parliamentary session and start delivering these improvements. We believe the current timeframe strikes that balance effectively.