PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Avanti West Coast: Finance (5 September 2022)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to DfT payments to passenger rail operators under emergency agreements and National Rail Contracts data, for what reason a decision was made to pay Avanti West Coast £4 million for (a) operational performance, (b) customer experience and (c) acting as a good and efficient operator in financial years 2019-20 and 2020-21.

Asked by:
Navendu Mishra (Labour)

Under both the previous and current operator contracts, both of which are publicly available, the operator receives a fixed fee and has the ability to earn a performance-based fee.

Performance is independently evaluated against set criteria and considers all elements within the operator's control. Performance Fees paid were based on the outcome of the independent evaluation of Avanti’s performance, noting that for the period September 2020 to March 2021 Avanti were given a score of 1 in customer experience and earned nothing (£0).

Answered by:
Robert Courts (Conservative)
8 September 2022