asked Her Majesty's Government:

What assessment they have made of the impact of delays in approving orders on the availability of rolling stock. [HL5643]

The Department for Transport is in discussion with train operating companies to define the requirements to deliver the additional capacity as set out in the Rolling Stock Plan. It is the responsibility of the operators to ensure that the vehicles are competitively procured and to identify the delivery dates with manufacturers to match the high level output specification funding period.

There have already been 423 additional vehicles ordered, the first of which will commence entry into service later this year. The department has set out in the Rolling Stock Plan that 1,300 additional vehicles will be delivered by 2014.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How long they expect negotiations with TransPennine Express and National Express East Anglia over the provision of additional rolling stock to last. [HL5815]

The negotiations with TransPennine Express and National Express East Anglia are expected to continue into 2009.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the figure published in the Department for Transport's Rolling Stock Plan for additional vehicles required for TransPennine Express services is correct. [HL5816]

The Department for Transport recently published High Level Output Specification (HLOS) plan update July 2008, which described the process for implementing the Rolling Stock Plan. This stated that it would announce a number of vehicles different from that shown in the plan only if and when it contracted with a train operating company for a different number.