Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the timeframe within which the renationalisation of rail franchises will result in improvements to rail services.

Public ownership will end the failed franchising system, allowing operators to serve the interests of passengers, not shareholders. The failures of the past three decades cannot be fixed overnight, and bringing train operations into public ownership is only one part of this government’s extensive plans to improve the railways for passengers and taxpayers.