Speaking to RBI on April 25, Transport Minister Claire Perry defended the case for agreeing large, ambitious premium payments during franchising. 'The premiums are reinvested but the constant conundrum is over whether it is right to get taxpayers who don't use the trains to pay for the railways, or should we be reinvesting the fare-box in them?', she said. According to Perry, what has happened in the DfT franchising team since the collapse of the Intercity West Coast competition in 2012 'is sort of night and day. The focus then was entirely on the finances, which is why the north only got Pacers, now it's about investment in the franchise', she said. 'Not squeezing the last pip out of the orange, but what can you keep in the franchise to invest and what can change during the franchise period.
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