Rail franchises operators & contracts

LNER: Business as usual

04.09.18: On 24 June, the operation of the East Coast Main Line (ECML) service transferred from Virgin Trains East Coast to the newly-created London North Eastern Railway (LNER). David Horne, its managing director, talks about the first few months and wha...

DfT won’t split up Great Western, but calls for ‘more decentralisation’

28.08.18: There has been little public and organisational support for the idea of splitting the Great Western franchise and creating a separate operation for the West of England, a consultation has revealed – so the government has announced it will...

Public sector bidders will be allowed to compete for ScotRail franchise

24.08.18: Public-sector bidders will be allowed to compete for the next ScotRail franchise in order to ensure the public and private sectors have a fair and equal access to contracts, ministers have confirmed. Michael Matheson, Cabinet secretary for...

Ex-minister calls for radical managerial devolution of ‘inertia-ridden behemoth’ Network Rail

22.08.18: A new report by a former transport minister has rejected the idea of renationalising Scotland’s railways and thrown support behind the current system. The report—commissioned by ScotRail operator Abellio and written by Tom Harri...

Southeastern completes £30m upgrade to a third of its trains

03.08.18: A £30m, three-year upgrade has been completed by Southeastern in a joint venture with Eversholt Rail and Bombardier to a third of its rolling stock. The revamp will benefit more than 600,000 passengers and comes as the Class...

Return to full timetables in September may be stalled due to infrastructure failures

01.08.18: Plans to move back to full timetables from chaos-stricken TOCs such as Northern Rail and TransPennine Express have been thrown into doubt following a recent Transport for North (TfN) meeting. Northern Rail reintroduced three-quarters of its...

Gatwick Express ad claim of trains to Victoria in 30 minutes ruled as ‘misleading’

01.08.18: An advert claim by Gatwick Express that its services can reach London Victoria in 30 minutes has been ruled as misleading by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). A poster and website advert titled “Glide out of Gatwick” wi...

Rail Delivery Group boss: British railways ‘the envy of Europe’

31.07.18: The director of the rail industry’s membership group has claimed that British railways are the “envy” of Europe. Director of the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) Robert Nisbet told BBC 5 Live yesterday that the nation’s rai...

Timetable disruption cost northern economy £38m, bosses call for greater TfN devolution

30.07.18: Rail industry chaos caused by new timetables on 20 May cost the northern England economy £38m, new analysis has shown. Analysis produced by the Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP), a group led by former chancellor George Osborne, fo...

Burnham urges May to ‘solve the railway chaos’ after botched emergency timetables

30.07.18: The mayor of Greater Manchester has today written to Theresa May calling on her to intervene to solve constant disruption to rail services in the north. Andy Burnham said it was “frankly outrageous” that the introduction of emer...

SWR to renegotiate future timetables with DfT for 'maximum benefit' to customers

24.07.18: The future of South Western Railway (SWR) services will be renegotiated with the DfT as the company looks to implement changes to future timetables to ensure minimal disruption for customers. According to documents from the ORR, the operato...

DfT pledges ‘tough action’ on GTR, contract breach review due this month

19.07.18: GTR could be at risk of losing control of its franchise as early as this month depending on the outcome of a “hard review” into whether the TOC breached its contracts. During an urgent question about the May timetable fiasco at...

Scathing letter rips into May timetable chaos, demands Grayling take responsibility

18.07.18: Members of the London Assembly have written to Chris Grayling calling on him to take responsibility for the failings of the industry in implementing new timetables – which have wreaked havoc across the network since their roll-out in May &...

DfT said East Coast bid was ‘low-risk’ despite very ambitious growth targets

17.07.18: Stagecoach and Virgin’s original bid for the failed Intercity East Coast franchise was “ambitious” and not fully believed by the DfT to succeed, MPs have been told. Speaking to the Commons Transport Select Committee yester...

More delays hit GTR after third timetable in two months, leaving passengers furious

17.07.18: Services on the renewed timetable for struggling rail firm GTR have already been hit by a spate of cancellations despite the operator introducing its third timetable in two months. Networks under GTR’s control— Southern, Thamesl...