Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the comments by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport to the Transport Select Committee on 7 November 2016, Question 347, that he was looking at making in-franchise charges to existing rail franchises, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing DelayRepay on all rail franchises via in-franchise changes rather than waiting for the commencement of the next round of the franchises.

Best value for the taxpayer in the introduction of compensation for delays from 15 minutes is likely to be achieved through franchise competitions as bidders will have incentives to deliver this at a competitive price. This is why the Department will be introducing the new policy through competition, where a competition is underway or is planned.

The Department will work with the franchise operators to agree how and when these improvements will be implemented, where this does not apply, ensuring the best possible deal for passengers and taxpayers. The full roll out in these cases will be dependent on the Department reaching a commercial agreement with the existing franchise operators.