Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to exercise their option to extend the current Great Western Railway franchise.

There are no plans to extend the Great Western Railway franchise. Under the provisions of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024, services operated under contract with the Department will transfer into public ownership as existing contracts expire, and will be kept there, rather than public ownership merely being a temporary ‘last resort’. This delivers the Government’s manifesto commitment to bring passenger services into public ownership as a first step towards wider rail reform.