Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what is the cost was of changing branding and livery to LNER following the collapse of Virgin Trains East Coast.

The estimated cost of rebranding the existing rolling stock and issuing new uniform items to staff is approximately £550,000. The incurring of these costs are normal at the end of any franchise where the operator changes as LNER could not use the Virgin brand following the transfer of the services to LNER.

It was also important to spend this money in order to help establish this new brand in the market and maintain customer awareness of the services on offer.