29.07.16
Campaigners call for ‘right decision’ on delayed East Anglia award
The government must make the “right decision” when awarding the now delayed East Anglia franchise, the Great Eastern Mainline Taskforce has said.
A decision to award the franchise was meant to be made in June, but following the political upheaval after the EU referendum vote and the changing of the political guard at the DfT a decision has yet to be made.
A DfT spokesperson told RTM that the department is “still considering the bids”, but that the new franchise should still be starting in October.
Earlier this month, Ipswich MP Ben Gummer said that following the Brexit vote the new operator of East Anglia, which could be FirstGroup, National Express or the incumbent Abellio (originally this had been a joint venture bid with Stagecoach), may receive less money following the economic uncertainty after the vote to leave.
Mark Pendlington, joint chair of the Great Eastern Mainline Taskforce, which has campaigned for infrastructure improvements to increase speed and capacity in the route since 2012, said that he was “reassured this has been a rigorous selection process”.
“The Taskforce met with the bidders and they all had top quality plans to make our railway great again and we know they would have put in compelling bids to the government,” he said.
“The most important thing now is that the right decision is taken, and that whoever the successful bidder is, they deliver on faster trains to Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich and the new state-of-the-art rolling stock that businesses and passengers in the East deserve.”
Last year, in the invitation to tender (ITT) documents, it was revealed that the operator of the next nine-year East Anglia franchise will have to introduce at least two 90-minute services in each direction running between Norwich and London every weekday, alongside a series of mandatory upgrades.
The documents specify that, because rolling stock currently running on the route is “too old and unreliable”, the ITT will particularly focus on the quality of new trains.
Improved rolling stock must also be of a high quality and fit for purpose, such as by providing wi-fi and controlled emission toilets, as well as tackle crowding levels.
Prior to resigning as rail minister earlier this month over the failure at Southern, Claire Perry said: “The successful bidder will help us realise our ambitious plans for East Anglia’s rail network. We have been clear that as a minimum they must provide a modern service with state of the art trains and also introduce at least two 90-minute services each way between London and Norwich. In addition they must invest heavily in improving stations.
“We advised an anticipated date for the award and continue to consider the bids. We will announce the new operator in due course.”
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