Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2015 to Question 17745, whether provision was made for investments in Newcastle Station with a payback period longer than the East Coast Franchise Agreement, when his Department concluded that Virgin Trains East Coast were the best value to the public purse and passengers to continue as manager of that station.

Mechanisms exist within the Franchise Agreement that allow stakeholders and operators to propose long term investments with payback periods beyond the length of the Franchise term. We are encouraging such investment proposals at Newcastle station.