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Rail Fares and Franchises

Whether or not that is the case, I am not sure that it would be good for the industry to inject such uncertainty into the framework. I am also not sure what could be compared with the East Coast franchise if we made it into a longer-term public comparator. Among the dozen or more franchises, not a great number are comparable with the East Coast, which is a majority long-distance operator. There are many commuter, short-distance and regional franchises. Generally, our approach to franchises is about recognising that they are all different. For that reason, I am unconvinced that a comparison could be achieved. Perhaps the Southern franchise mentioned by the hon. Member for Selby could provide a decent comparison with other commuter franchises into London as they are broadly of the same nature, but I do not think it can be argued that there can be much comparison between the East Coast franchise and the South West Trains franchise.