Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what comparative estimate he has made of premium payments received by Government from (a) franchised rail operators and (b) rail operators running under a direct award since 2012.

The net premium paid (or subsidy received) by each passenger franchise is published annually by the Office of Rail and Road. The most recent published statistics are for 2017/18, and are available alongside previous years’ figures here: http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/browsereports/1

The government aims to achieve best value for taxpayers and passengers by awarding franchises through competitive procurement wherever possible, but it is sometimes necessary to make a direct award for operational or other reasons. The rail franchising schedule (updated annually for 2017 and earlier years) shows the contractual status of each franchise over the years since 2012. The 2017 edition is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rail-franchise-schedule with earlier versions available in the UK government web archive.