§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will state, in respect of the high-speed train sets currently operated by the Great North Eastern Railway, which organisations are responsible for their design, construction, commissioning and testing; who owns the sets; who leases them; who maintains them; who crews them; and who is responsible for other functions formerly carried out by the British Railways Board in relation to those sets. [135403]
§ Mr. HillGreat Northern Eastern Railway's (GNER) fleet of vehicles are owned by, and leased from, two different rolling stock leasing companies (ROSCOs), Angel Train Contracts Ltd. and Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. These vehicles were designed, manufactured, commissioned and tested by British Rail before privatisation. Heavy maintenance of the fleet is the responsibility of the ROSCO while light maintenance and crewing is the responsibility of GNER.