Southeastern Rail

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Transport – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 12 January 2017.

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Photo of Chris Grayling Chris Grayling The Secretary of State for Transport 12:00, 12 January 2017

There has been no politicisation of this discussion. This decision was taken after the Mayor’s business plan was analysed across government, and after discussions with neighbouring authorities and people who know the route. The truth is that the Mayor’s proposals offered no extra capacity for passengers but a whole lot of uncosted, unfunded promises. They also involved a very substantial top-down reorganisation. The approach we have chosen is the same one that we have taken for Northern and in the midlands, which is to create a partnership to develop a franchise that will work for all passengers in Kent and south-east London to deliver the capacity that we need.