The effects of currency fluctuations on the Intercity Express programme costs were considered in the business case and will be taken into account during the assessment of bids.
[holding answer 17 July 2008]: Funding for the railways is made up of a combination of direct Government grants to Network Rail, subsidy and premium payments to and from train operating companies (TOCs), along with income from the farebox. The bulk of Network Rail's income, as determined by the Office of Rail Regulation, is in turn made up of those Government grants and track access charges levied on the train operating companies (TOCs). A proportion of the income from subsidy and farebox revenue will go towards paying track access charges to Network Rail.
In view of this it is not possible to allocate Government funding for the railway to individual railway beneficiaries. That said, payments and premiums to and from individual TOCs and grant payments to Network Rail for 2007-8 will be published shortly by the Office of Rail Regulation in National Rail Trends. In addition, a table showing contracted payments and premiums to and from all TOCs who have extant contracts with the Government is available in the Library of the House.