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Rail Fares and Franchises

The amount of money Network Rail has is enormous compared with that of a train operating company. When the train company bears the entire risk of the economic downturn, as it does at present under the cap-and-collar arrangements, that is quite a significant risk for it to take. If some of that risk was shared with Network Rail—I am not suggesting that all of it should be shared—the percentage of Network Rail's money affected by such an arrangement would be marginal compared with the percentage of a train company's income. That is why it would be possible to do that without unduly disrupting Network Rail.