Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with Network Rail on the (a) under-utilisation of some London North Eastern Railway services on the East Coast Main Line and (b) comparative potential merits of awarding those rails slots to open access services.

The Department regularly monitors levels of passenger demand on LNER services which help inform timetable planning decisions on the East Coast Mainline. Network capacity is a matter for Network Rail to assess according to their criteria.

The Secretary of State has not discussed awarding LNER services to Open Access operators with Network Rail, and has no plans to do so, but does continue to engage with Network Rail and the ORR on submitted Open Access applications in line with standard industry processes.