Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2026 to Question 105751, how each of the measures cited as enabling the reduction in the rail passenger services subsidy has performed from the date each Train Operating Company entered public ownership to the most recent date for which data is available, including a) what quantified administrative efficiencies have been realised to date, expressed in cash terms and as a percentage of operating costs, b) what changes in operational performance have been recorded, including Public Performance Measure, cancellations, short-notice cancellations, and customer satisfaction scores; c) what passenger revenue growth has been achieved in cash and real terms; and d) what the net change in subsidy requirement has been for each publicly owned operator over that period.

Public ownership is not a silver bullet but a vital step towards rebuilding trust and pride in our railways. Due to seasonal variations, it will take time for the impact of public ownership to be fully reflected in performance trend data. Public ownership has, however, already contributed to a reduction in fees that would otherwise have been paid to private operators, and these reductions will continue as more operators are brought into public ownership. According to the ORR, in the period from July to September 2025, journey numbers were 8% higher and passenger revenue 6% more than in the same quarter in the previous year (when adjusted for inflation). The Department currently expects the rail passenger services subsidy in 2025/26 to be c£0.3bn lower than the £2.4bn in 2024/25.