Written questions by Holden.

With reference to the press notice entitled East West Rail services planned to begin this year as Chiltern Railways named operator, published on 25 March 2025, when she expects (a) passenger services between Oxford and Milton Keynes to begin, (b) the new station at Winslow to open, (c) the works to upgrade Bletchley station to be completed and (d) services to (i) Bedford and (ii) Cambridge to be extended.

The Department is working closely with Chiltern Railways and other partners to confirm a start date for the service. We are looking forward to commencing services as soon as all necessary authorisations and agreements are in place. Passenger services, including services to Winslow, will commence once train testing and driver training have been completed. Work on an additional high-level platform at Bletchley is now complete. Services between Oxford to Bedford via the Marston Vale Line will commence from 2030 with the full Oxford to Cambridge services beginning in the mid 2030s.

Whether her Department plans to introduce (a) a similar scheme to the Great British Rail Sale of April 2022 and (b) other national discounted ticketing initiatives when Great British Railways assumes full responsibility for timetabling and ticketing.

GBR will be empowered to deliver industry-wide modernisation and reform of the complex and fragmented fares landscape inherited from privatisation. This will enable GBR to simplify the ticketing system and make it easy for passengers to find the right fare. GBR will also continue to offer certain discounts, like railcards, with specific discount cards targeted at groups for which cost is more likely to be a barrier to rail travel – young people, older people and disabled people – being further safeguarded in legislation, as they have been since the Railways Act 1993. There have been two additional network-wide Rail Sales since April 2022, including our Rail Sale at the beginning of this year to celebrate the 200th anniversary of passenger rail. No decisions have been taken on future network-wide rail sales.

Pursuant to her Department’s press release entitled £120 million to roll-out more electric vans, taxis and motorbikes, published on 25 February 2025, what estimate she has made of the annual number of motorbikes manufactured in the UK; and what estimate she has made of the proportion of the £120 million that will support (a) UK-manufactured motorbikes and (b) motorbikes manufactured overseas.

The Department for Transport does not collect data on the number of motorbikes manufactured in the UK. The £120 million of funding announced at the Autumn Budget 2023 enabled the continuation of the Plug-in Motorcycle Grant, offering grants of £500 for qualifying zero emission motorcycles, with British brands such as Maeving continuing to be a popular choice under the scheme.

With reference to the press notice entitled Simpler train travel for the South East as contactless ticketing rolls out at 47 more stations, published on 20 January 2025, how many and what proportion of the 49 stations announced for rollout in 2025 had contactless introduced by 10 October 2025; what her Department's timetable is for introducing contactless in the remaining stations; and what plans her Department has to extend contactless ticketing (a) beyond the South East and (b) in (i) Greater Manchester and (ii) the West Midlands.

We have committed to expanding Pay As You Go (PAYG) with contactless ticketing to further stations in the Southeast, with an additional 49 stations to be rolled out by the end of this year. Ministers will be making an announcement on delivery soon. Additionally, we have announced plans to launch PAYG in both Manchester and the West Midlands, expanding PAYG to more than 90 additional rail stations in 2026. Any further announcement on wider expansion beyond this, as well as an update on delivery timings, will be provided in due course.

With reference to the press notice entitled Transport Secretary forges landmark deal to progress new Swiss rail link, published on 9 May 2025, how many meetings of the joint UK–Swiss working group have been held as of 10 October 2025; what the cost to the public purse was for those meetings; how many staff hours have been spent on the development of the Memorandum of Understanding; how many (a) staff meetings and (b) meetings with her Swiss counterparts have been held in relation to the development of the Memorandum of Understanding.

The landmark agreement signed with Switzerland earlier this year established a UK–Swiss Working Group which could pave the way for direct commercial services between the UK and Switzerland in future. As of 10 October 2025, one meeting of the joint UK–Swiss Working Group has been held. This took place in the UK on 16 September 2025. The costs of hosting this working group, excluding staff time, are estimated to be less than £800. The next working group meeting will be planned for the first quarter of 2026.Whilst it is not possible to quantify the number of staff hours dedicated to developing the Memorandum of Understanding, officials have held a number of internal meetings and discussions with Swiss counterparts to support its development.

What recent assessment she has made of the resilience of Britain’s rail network to prolonged periods of dry weather, in the context of ongoing speed restrictions and service reductions on routes including the West of England line; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure (a) embankments and (b) track infrastructure are properly maintained to avoid repeated disruption to passengers.

The resilience of Britain’s rail network to severe weather is managed through Network Rail’s Control Period 7 regional weather resilience and climate change adaptation plans. Through the period we will invest £2.8 billion in improving the resilience of their assets to extreme weather (including dry weather) and in development of long-term climate change adaptation pathways. Extended periods of dry weather made some clay embankments unstable on some rail routes including in Westen England. In this region the driest spring since 1836, followed by the driest summer in 200 years, resulted in a severe soil moisture deficit. To manage these conditions safely Network Rail worked with train operators, including South Western Railway, to implement speed restrictions and make some service alterations as a result. Network Rail and South Western Railway continue to monitor soil moisture levels, track conditions, and train performance, and provide regular updates to the Department. Services will be reinstated as soon as it is safe to do so. Most railway embankments in western/southern England are built on clay soil, which normally contains moisture. However, heat radiation and moisture absorption by lineside vegetation and trees have removed much of this moisture. Temporary speed restrictions, which cause extended journey times, are one of the ways in which services can continue to run safely.

How much funding her Department has allocated to (a) road maintenance and (b) pothole repairs in each year since 2022; and what the total amount is allocated over that period.

The Department has allocated approximately £8 billion for local highways maintenance in England over the period 2021/22 to 2025/26.This includes a range of funding sources including the Highways Maintenance Block, the Integrated Transport Block, Potholes Funding, Network North, the Local Transport Grant, and highways funding that has been consolidated into City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS).The figure is exclusive of baseline highways maintenance funding and Integrated Transport Block funding that has been consolidated into CRSTS funding for 2025/26. The Department has not split out how much of this funding is for highways maintenance as, by the nature of the funding, it is consolidated transport funding for local authorities to decide how best to use.The £226 million Local Transport Grant of 2025/26 is for local transport and maintenance more widely. Integrated Transport Block funding is for local transport maintenance and enhancements.The above figure also includes the £500m funding uplift for local highways maintenance in 2025/26 that the Government announced at the Autumn Budget 2024.Further information on these funding streams is available online, at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/highways-maintenance-funding-allocationshttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-transport-grant-allocations/local-transport-grant-ltg-allocations-2025-to-2026.

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 71258 on Road Traffic Control: Oxford, whether (a) Oxfordshire County Council and (b) Oxford City Council have made enquiries to DVLA to access vehicle registration data for the purposes of (i) congestion charging and (ii) traffic filters.

In line with the relevant legislation, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) provides vehicle information to Oxfordshire County Council for a number of specified purposes. These include management of the zero emission zones scheme and moving traffic offences. The data sharing contract governing requests for vehicle information relating to local authority schemes in Oxford is between the DVLA and Oxfordshire County Council.

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 71255 on Restoring your railway fund, if she will publish a copy of the (a) environmental principles assessment and (b) public sector equality duty assessment relating to the cancellation of the Restoring Your Railway fund.

The decision to close the Restoring Your Railway fund was taken in the context of a wider review of Public Spending by the Chancellor, where she confirmed the steps the Government was taking to address the pressures on the public finances by cancelling unfunded policy announcements made by the previous government. No environmental principles assessment or public sector equality duty assessment was made by my Department on the specific element of the decision to close the Restoring Your Railway fund. My Department has due regard for Public Sector Equality Duty and Environmental Principles as decisions are taken about progressing projects and these will also have been considered by HM Treasury in the review of Public Spending, as my Right Honourable Friend’s previous response indicated.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of industrial action by train guards on passengers.

The Department regrets the impact any industrial action by guards may have on passengers. The Department works with its contracted train operators to minimise the impact of any industrial action and encourages them and the trade unions to resolve matters, through discussion, as quickly as possible.

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 71238 on Buses and Large Goods Vehicles: Licensing, for what reason the consultation response has been delayed.

The previous government did not publish a response to its consultation before it left office.This government is now working closely with operators to obtain further evidence and will then consider next steps.

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 71253 on Railways: Facilities Agreements, if she will publish a copy of the extant facility time agreements in place for (a) her Department, (b) Great British Railways and (c) DfT Operator Limited.

In rail, facility time agreements are between individual train operating companies or Network Rail and the trade unions (TUs), not between the Department for Transport or DfT Operator Limited and the TUs. Great British Railways has not yet been established so has no facility time agreements.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2025 to Question 59359 on Motorcycles: Bus Lanes, how many respondents responded to the consultation on allowing motorcycles to access bus lanes by default; and what number of respondents were (a) for and (b) against.

This information is contained in the ‘Motorcycles in bus lanes consultation outcome’ published on 21 November 2024 and available here: Motorcycles in bus lanes consultation outcome - GOV.UK .

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 71264 on Driving under Influence, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the lower limit in Scotland on the economic viability of pubs in Scotland.

The power to set the drink drive limit in Scotland is devolved to the Scottish Government. The Department of Transport has not made an assessment of the impact on the economic viability of pubs in Scotland.

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 71256 on Railways: Automation, if she will make it her policy to link government investment to conditions on greater take-up of automated train operation technology.

The Government is committed to investing in a modern railway that is reliable for passengers and supports economic growth for taxpayers. This has included investment in automated train operation in recent years, as noted in the answer of 8 September, on schemes such as Thameslink and the Elizabeth Line, and I would expect this to continue to be a consideration for future investment where it can drive efficiency and improved performance for the railway.

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 71274 on THINK! Campaign, what the total amount of savings from reduced spending on the THINK! Road Safety communications campaign is since July 2024.

For the financial year 2024/2025, the budget for the THINK! road safety campaign has reduced by £1,299,424 compared to the previous financial year. This was in line with the Government’s review of campaign spending.

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 71266 on Department for Transport: Buildings, what the make and model of soundproof meeting pods were; and how many were purchased.

Three Kolo Midi soundproof meeting pods were purchased.

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 71268 on Department for Transport: Ministers' Private Offices, what the expenditure of £2,769.49 was on; and if she will provide a breakdown of each item of spending.

Since 4 July 2024 the Department has spent £211.34 on redecoration of Ministers' Private Offices. Following a review and a correction to the answer to Question 71268, I can confirm that no costs were incurred on furniture and fittings.

What discussions her Department has had with (a) The Office of the Mayor of London and (b) Transport for London on the London Underground strikes in the week of 8 September 2025.

Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor and TfL, and strike action on London’s transport network is for TfL to manage. The Government encourages all sides to work together to resolve this dispute as quickly as possible. The Secretary of State met with TfL on this matter during the week of 8 September 2025.

With reference to the FOI response Ref: FOI-00045627, if she will publish that response.

A copy of the response and accompanying documents have been placed in the Library of the House.