Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the premium payments of £3.8 billion on the Greater Anglia rail franchise will be paid in full.

Due to commercial confidentiality, we do not comment on the financial position of individual franchises. We work closely with all our franchisees throughout their contracts and monitor their progress against their contractual commitments. We expect all operators and their guarantors to continue to fulfil their financial and contractual commitments.

The Department awarded this franchise after a robust competition process and the owning group has provided a substantial parent company support as a guarantee.