Nicholas Lewis
Established Member
Im no fan of the Daily Mail for quality news but this is there article . There's also a similar titled article in Daily telegraph but thats behind a paywall.
Essence is Treasury have reduced amount of subsidy available from 21/22 tax year
Essence is Treasury have reduced amount of subsidy available from 21/22 tax year
A fifth of rail services could be cut next year because Ministers are struggling to control a ballooning multi-billion-pound taxpayer bill.
Whitehall officials are looking at plans that could see rail capacity slashed to around 80 per cent of pre-pandemic service levels.
It is one of the measures under serious consideration following Treasury pressure to reduce the strain on the public purse from propping up the country’s rail network.
Many TOCs are already below previous timetable plans so may not need as much cutting as the headlines suggest. More concerning would be if traffic levels don't recover to the 75% they expect.Chancellor Rishi Sunak is reported to have approved a modest £2.1 billion to ensure services keep running during the next financial year, constituting less than a quarter of the £9 billion estimated bill for the year to March 2021.