Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the early termination of the East Coast rail franchise?

As with all recent franchise awards, Stagecoach Group PLC committed parent company support to inject funds into the franchise in circumstances where it doesn’t perform as predicted. We will hold them to that commitment in full.

From 2020 we intend to re-let the franchise as the East Coast Partnership, one of the first of a new generation of integrated regional rail operations. This will include appropriate contributions from the new private partner under a long-term competitively procured contract.

We are always looking for the best ways to achieve value for money for the taxpayer and the best results for passengers. Reforms will build on the best of the public and private sectors, with private sector involvement bringing innovation, investment and competition.