Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 15 March (HL14180), what type, or types, of Government support have been considered to support the Southern Rail Link to Heathrow; and whether the criteria for assessing proposals to deliver the project include a requirement to operate trains on the line.

Following the publication of the Market Sounding Findings Report, published in December 2018, which showed that none of the schemes put forward were able to advance without Government support, whether that be direct financial support, or by providing indirect support such as guarantees of future usage, my Department has been working to further develop and clarify the outcomes we want to be delivered from this project and is considering appropriate criteria for assessing commercial and procurement models, including minimum requirements required.