Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether (1) Stagecoach, and (2) Virgin Railways, (a) are obliged, and (b) have committed, to make any payment to HM Government to cover losses that those companies would have incurred under the contract for the East Coast rail franchise.

As with all recent franchise awards, Stagecoach Group PLC committed parent company support, in this case totalling £165million, which they are obliged to inject into the franchise in circumstances where it doesn’t perform as predicted. We will hold them to that commitment in full.