Greater Thameslink Railway: Nationalisation
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what independent economic assessment has been made of the cost to the Exchequer of transferring the operations of Govia Thameslink Railways into public ownership compared with retaining the existing contractual model; and whether such an assessment will be published.
Answered by Keir Mather
Since the start of the pandemic, the net costs of operating franchised passenger services have been borne by taxpayers, not by private train operators. Therefore, the transfer of Govia Thameslink Railways (GTR) services into public ownership is not expected to change the Government’s financial exposure, other than savings in the fees currently paid to privately-owned train operating companies. Once all services currently delivered under contract with the Department have transferred, public ownership will save taxpayers an estimated £110 million to £150 million every year.
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