Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2015 to Question 12620, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the level of public subsidy for train operators in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry

The level of public subsidy paid to (or premiums paid by) train operators is determined by the franchising process, in which bidders compete for the right to run passenger services franchises. Franchise competitions are designed to allow train operators an adequate financial return while at the same time ensuring they can fulfil their franchise commitments and obligations in full. Last year the Department received net £1.2bn premium from franchised train operators. Further information can be found on the Gov.uk website

(https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rail-subsidy-per-passenger-mile).

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