Written question asked by Norman Baker (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 24 June 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 26 June 2009. It was answered by Chris Mole (Labour) on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Great North Eastern Railway: Connex

Question: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many members of staff within (a) his Department and (b) the Strategic Rail Authority were assigned to duties related to ensuring the continuity of rail services following the surrender of franchises by (i) GNER and (ii) Connex.

Answer: Although the GNER franchise was not surrendered, but converted into a management contract, there were three people employed by the Department for Transport who led on this process. However, others in the Department, including specialists in the finance and legal teams would have contributed to the work.The Department does not hold information in relation to the number of staff within the Strategic Rail Authority who worked on ensuring the continuity of rail services when the Connex franchise was surrendered. The Strategic Rail Authority would have been solely responsible for this.

Secondary information