This is a reward for abject failure, and a slap in the face for passengers.

This failing operator has caused travel misery, and the Government’s answer is to hand over millions more in taxpayers’ cash and consign passengers to another six months of chaos.

If the government had any interest in doing their job, they would strip this failing operator of the contract, and finally put passengers first.

This chaotic short-term decision making is precisely what has held back long-term planning on the rail network. That’s why Labour would bring our railways into public ownership as contracts expire.