Rail Performance

I have routine conversations with Northern Rail, as the hon. Gentleman would imagine. The most recent was on Thursday. We facilitated a new rest day working agreement with it, which has significantly reduced driver cancellations, but there is an outstanding issue with conductors; there is a very similar situation with Great Western. In parts of Northern Rail, particularly in the north-west, Sundays are not included in the working week. That has led to an unacceptable amount of cancellations, which we are working to resolve. I will raise the issue of stopping at Preston with Avanti separately.