Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the performance of train services on the Salisbury to Exeter line.

Department officials are challenging South Western Railway (SWR) over the performance of the West of England Line where performance has fallen below the standards required recently. The South Western Railway National Rail Contract contains provisions to incentivise the operator to ensure services are run to the agreed timetable and where this is not the case, actions be taken to rectify any causation factors.