Tuesday 9th March 2021

The government gave £4 billion to the various rail franchises in the six months to September – under Emergency Measures Agreements. It’s likely another £4 billion has been spent since. That’s on top of the subsidies rail companies had already been receiving. This dependency on public money won’t go away when COVID-19 is under control. There’s an expectation that daily commutes into work are a thing of the past. Phil Dobbie asks rail industry advisor Sir Michael Holden whether the government has a strategy.

Also today, encouraging signs on how the UK is controlling the virus, but the same can’t be said for Italy. Are rising interest rates closer than we thought? And is the Chinese government bailing out its own share market?

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