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 in 2016 of (a) raising regulated national rail fares by the retail price index and (b) removing train operators' flexibility to vary regulated fare levels within the basket of fares in 2016.

We know that passengers are concerned about the cost of fares. That is why we have capped regulated fares at the level of the Retail Price Index (RPI) for three years running, and will continue to do so for the life of this parliament. We have also removed the flex which allowed train operators’ flexibility to vary regulated fare levels within the basket. The estimated cost to the Department in 2016 is, £30.4 million (in nominal prices) for capping regulated rail fares at RPI+0%, and £6 million (in nominal prices) for removing the flex.