Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the new train timetable on the reliability of rail services.

The December 2022 timetable was designed to improve performance through some of the busiest parts of the network, including Manchester, Birmingham and the south east. Since it was introduced, the network has faced considerable challenges, with poor weather (snow, ice, wind, heavy rain), sustained industrial action and a wide-ranging programme of engineering works. The full impact of the timetable on service performance will only become clearer when network disruption stabilises, towards the end of January.