Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2026 to Question 11946 on Train Operating Companies: Finance, whether her Department has undertaken analysis on the factors resulting in passenger revenue in 2025-26 being lower than forecast.

The Department holds regular discussions with DFTO to monitor and review passenger revenue outturn against forecast.

Outturn passenger revenue can diverge from forecast for a variety of reasons. These include external factors (such as wider economic conditions and weather events), internal factors (such as operational performance and rail policy changes) and customer behaviour (such as increased use of railcards and greater take-up of good-value advance fares, which can affect overall revenue levels).