To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the decision by Great Western Railway to withdraw from the easitNETWORK scheme on (a) traffic congestion, (b) air quality and (c) carbon emissions in (i) Oxfordshire and (ii) other counties.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has made to Great Western Railway on their decision to withdraw from the easitNETWORK scheme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support schemes such as the easitNETWORK scheme that operates on Great Western Railway to encourage more people to use public transport instead of their car.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will host a meeting between representatives of (a) Great Western Railway, (b) easitNETWORK and (c) Honourable Members who represent constituents who use the easitNETWORK scheme to discuss how Great Western Railway could continue to participate in that scheme.

The franchise agreement allows train operators to participate at their discretion in a wide range of schemes of benefit to passengers without seeking Secretary of State consent, but does not mandate non-national schemes.

We are committed to taking decisive action on the recommendation of the Williams Rail Review this year. Fare transformation is already underway in the form of a single-leg fares trial on LNER and the announcement of flexible season ticket trial for passengers travelling on certain routes with GTR, due to launch later this year. We have also established a new ‘fares trials fund’, to kick start further trials this year across the country. These will save thousands of passengers money, and provide the foundations for reform of the whole fares system.