The impact of COVID

The Office of Rail and Road explained that passenger numbers began falling in March, and that by the end of the first quarter of 2020-21 (Q1 202021, April 1-June 30) they had dropped to as low as 5% of usual levels.

Income for that period was £184 million, a massive £2.5 billion lower than for the corresponding quarter last year (a 93.1% drop).

The Department for Transport responded by paying train operators £2.0bn between April and June. This was £0.8bn higher than DfT funding for franchises during the entire 2019-20 financial year, although ORR pointed out these numbers are not final, so could change.