Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to include local stakeholders outside of the rail industry in the consultations on covid-19 recovery timetables.

Throughout the pandemic, the Department has been working with the rail industry to keep the country moving while protecting the public purse. Recovery timetables were designed to be flexible, so they could be amended to reflect fluctuating demand. Given the fast-changing nature of the situation, train operators were unable to follow regular railways procedures, including stakeholder consultations. As new passenger demand patterns are established, we expect train operators to consider local stakeholders when developing their plans.