Speeches

Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) premium and (b) subsidy payments the new Northern franchisee is expected to make or receive in each year of that franchise’s duration.

Andrew Jones

The new Northern Franchisee is expected to receive subsidy payments during each year of its franchise term. I note however, that under this franchise agreement the amount of annual subsidy will be reduced by £160million by the end of this 9-year contract and at the same time, unlike the last Northern franchise in 2004 which included limited plans to invest in services or meet demand, this new franchise will deliver more than 2,000 extra services each week, nearly a 40% increase in capacity and the complete removal of the outdated and unpopular Pacers by the end of 2019.

The subsidy payments are set out below in both nominal terms and in real (i.e. constant) terms in 2015/16 prices. Years 1 to 9 are the payments for the core Franchise Term. Year 10 is an optional extension period of up to one year, callable at the discretion of the Secretary of State.

Year

£M

Nominal

Real – 2015/16 prices

Year 1

2016/17

281

275

Year 2

2017/18

276

262

Year 3

2018/19

282

260

Year 4

2019/20

247

221

Year 5

2020/21

204

177

Year 6

2021/22

158

134

Year 7

2022/23

136

113

Year 8

2023/24

114

92

Year 9

2024/25

92

73

Year 10

2025/26

53

39