Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 21 June (HL8450), why the 26–30 railcard was announced in the Autumn Budget 2017 when the costs and delivery were being borne by the Rail Delivery Group.

As the 26-30 railcard could soon be incorporated into bids for new franchise competitions, any impact of the card on revenues would then be passed on to the Government. As such, it makes sense for the measure to form part of the Budget announcement.

The industry is currently pursuing a trial of the 26-30 railcard. The Government is supportive of this work and will continue to work actively with the industry to monitor the progress of the trial and rollout of the railcard.