£7.1bn rail subsidy
Net government support to the GB rail industry rose nearly 9% in 2018-19 - although HS2 skewed the figures.
Net government support to the rail industry in Great Britain in 201819 was £7.1 billion, with £3.86bn going to Network Rail, £2.6bn to HS2, £5 million to Passenger Transport Executives, and £167m going on other spending.
The remaining £417m was in grants to train operators, meaning that overall - for the first time since 2009-10 - they received a net subsidy from government. In the previous year, the Government received £227m from train operators.
The figures were revealed in the Office of Rail and Road’s 2018-19 annual statistical release, published on November 14.
Including direct support for Network Rail, the Government provided 6.4p for every passenger-kilometre travelled in Great Britain in 2018-19, up by 0.3p in real terms from the previous year.
Although net government support rose by 8.9% compared with 2017-18 when adjusted for inflation, excluding HS2 funding this rise was lower - at 2.1% in real terms.
The amount of money Network Rail borrowed from the Government in 2018-19 was £5.6bn, £400m less than in the previous 12-month period. NR’s total net debt at the end of 201819 was £53.4bn.
Freight grants fell by £1.1m to £16m in 2018-19, representing a decline of 6.4%.
Excluding Network Rail’s grant, most franchises made payments to the government in 2018-19, with the highest coming from Virgin Trains East Coast/LNER (£223m). Five operators made revenue share payments to the Government, with Virgin West Coast (£11.5m) making the highest payment.
One operator, Arriva Trains Wales, received revenue support from the Government (of £558,000).
In terms of overall subsidy, only c2c made a net contribution to the Government (1.4p per passenger-kilometre). The highest subsidy per passenger-kilometre was paid to Northern, which received a net 29.5p. Subsidy levels are changing, with net increases for nine franchises but decreases for the remaining 12.
Private investment in the railway fell from 2017-18’s record figure of £1.3bn to £1.04bn. This was largely due to a £238m decline in rolling stock investment.
Stations spending increased from £73m to £112m. Other spending fell from £192m to £137m.