asked the Secretary of State for Transport what are the criteria on which district councils will be allowed to secede from passenger transport authorities in respect of railways; whether they will include arrangements to continue support for rail services within that district council's area; and whether he will take into account the effect on the rail network throughout the passenger transport authorities area of any such secession.

As we said in our White Paper "Streamlining the Cities" (Cmnd. 9063):

"The Government will be prepared to consider proposals by individual districts to provide separate services … But, before any such arrangements are made, the Government will have to be satisfied about the relationship between the district and the PTA in respect of facilities such as rail services which benefit the whole metropolitan area."