Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 July 2019 to Question 279431 on Northern, what allowable Changes are permitted under the terms of the Arriva Rail North franchise agreement.

In common with all Franchise Agreements, the Northern Franchise Agreement sets out the many allowable Changes that are permitted under its terms. Those that have been triggered so far include changes to the timing and scope of infrastructure upgrades from those assumed at the bid, changes to the fares policy and changes to charges paid to Network Rail. The Northern Franchise agreement is publicly available at the DfT website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/northern-rail-2016-rail-franchise-agreement.