A transport minister has said he is "very interested" in new rail devolution proposals for the Southeastern rail route put forward by the Greenwich and Woolwich MP.

Labour's Pennycook has pressed the Department of Transport (DfT) to hand over responsibility for Southeastern services to Transport for London when the franchise ends in the spring.

This would see TfL and the Mayor of London take over parts of the route, which Pennycook says is needed to "ensure passengers in my constituency get the high standards of service that those who use the overground receive."

With the franchise ending on March 31, the Greenwich and Woolwich MP told Parliament that transport ministers should step up conversations with TfL about the possibility of rail devolution in south east London.

Responding, transport minister Chris Heaton-Harris said he was "interested" in the proposals.

He told MPs: "I am completely focused on making sure that franchise works and whatever might happen on April 1.

"But I am very interested to hear the proposals going forward for devolution of certain areas of South Eastern's franchise."

This comes after transport secretary Grant Shapps announced yesterday that Northern Rail would be brought back into public ownership.

The Southeastern franchise, currently run by Govia, was due to run until June 2019 but was extended until April 1 to allow for more time to find a new operator for the routes between London, Kent and East Sussex.