Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, in the context of the proposed reduction in rail service frequency and carriage numbers in London, what estimate his Department has made of the total amount of funding to be returned to the public purse in reduced industry costs in the form of leading payments.

Under the contracts with rail operators, the Department receives revenue collected and pays most operating costs incurred by the train operating companies through a regular franchise payment, made roughly every four weeks. This payment is to fund the ongoing provision of passenger rail services by these operators. For more information on these Departmental payments to passenger rail operators, please see the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dft-payments-to-passenger-rail-operators-under-emergency-agreements