Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on train revenues of the proposed introduction of contactless pay-as-you-go ticketing on trainlines in the (a) North and (b) Midlands.

This year’s spending review set aside £360 million investment to modernise industry ticketing and retailing systems. This includes an expansion of pay-as-you-go travel on rail to more than 200 stations in the wider south east and more than 700 stations in urban areas across the country including more than 400 in the north, exceeding our manifesto commitment. This investment will deliver significant benefits to passengers by making the process of paying for travel convenient and simple, removing the uncertainty from having to select a ticket in advance and freeing up staff to support passengers.

The assessment of the proposal is still in development, but our early, high level view is that it will increase revenue overall by attracting more passengers to rail.