Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2022 to Question 53555 on Railways: Contracts, for what reason his Department does not publish decisions on the approval of dividend payments by train operating companies.

As previously noted, the Department publishes details of payments to passenger rail operators, including fees paid, on the Government website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dft-payments-to-passenger-rail-operators-under-emergency-agreements).

Train operating companies may apply annually to the Department for permission to distribute the value of any fees they have earnt (adjusted for tax) and the value of retained earnings pre-Emergency Measures Agreements period to their owning groups as dividends.

Dividend applications are a matter for the train operating companies and the owning groups. The Department considers requests for dividend payments to parent companies on a case-by-case basis, including assessment of the operator’s compliance with contractual requirements. The Department does not publish a list of approved dividend payments or applications under consideration as it considers that publication of this information would prejudice commercial interests.