Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much (a) Northern Rail, (b) London North Eastern Railway, (c) TransPennine Express and (d) Southeastern pay annually in membership fees to (i) the Rail Delivery Group and (ii) Rail Partners.

In 2024/25, the annual membership fee paid by each of Northern Trains Limited, London North-Eastern Railway Limited and South Eastern Trains Limited to the Rail Partners is £70,350 (exclusive of VAT). The annual membership fee paid by Transpennine Trains Limited to the Rail Partners is £57,750 (exclusive of VAT).

Rail Partners have two distinct functions – Policy and Advocacy, and Operator Services. The operators in question are currently members of the latter, which brings together industry leaders to discuss matters of operations and engineering. These memberships are historic and subject to review.

Operators do not pay a membership fee to the Rail Delivery Group but rather pay for services that are delivered on behalf of the operators, such as National Rail Enquiries.