Net government funding increased 99.7% in real terms between 2015–16 and 2019–20 from £2.6 billion to £5.1 billion. This reflects increases in expenditure on operating and maintaining rail network infrastructure and the pre-COVID-19 deterioration in the passenger rail market as growth in rail passengers plateaued.3 In addition, the Department told us that an estimated £8.5 billion of government financial support has been provided to the system in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.4