Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the total cost to the public purse of payments to train operating companies under the Emergency Recovery Management Agreements.

Under the Emergency Recovery Measures Agreements (ERMAs), operators have been placed under more demanding management agreements than the previous Emergency Measure Agreements. These include tougher performance targets and lower management fees.

The total cost to the public purse of rail services under ERMAs will depend on passenger revenue levels, which remain highly uncertain in the near term due to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated public health measures. As such, no firm cost estimate is available.