To ask Her Majesty's Government under what conditions train companies can refuse to run trains for a day or weekend without breaching their contracts. [HL518]

The franchise agreement requires that operators provide services on those days specified in the agreement. Train operators may request that the Secretary of State allow them to operate a revised timetable if they are subject to the impact of external factors which are outside the operators' control. In these circumstances, operators are still under an obligation to demonstrate that they have used reasonable endeavours to operate the advertised timetable.