The
Department
for
Transport
appears
to
have
hardened
its
stance
over
more
open
access,
partly
on
the
grounds
that
these
services
could
siphon
off
unacceptable
amounts
of
revenue
from
operators
controlled
by
Great
British
Railways.
A
letter
to
the
Office
of
Rail
and
Road
from
the
DfT’s
director-general
for
rail
reform
and
strategy
Richard
Goodman,
dated
20
June,
also
highlights
the
possibility
of
a
conflict
of
interest
between
the
National
Rail
Contracts
still
possessed
by
transport
groups
and
their
open
access
operations.
He
says
such
a
possibility
is
‘a
risk
which
only
increases
as
contracts
approach
their
end
and
attentions
shift
towards
new
Open
Access
applications’.
At
the
moment,
FirstGroup
still
runs
the
contract
for
Great
Western
Railway
and
has
the
majority
share
in
Avanti
West
Coast,
but
also
operates
open
access
services
branded
Lumo
between
London
and
Edinburgh,
while
Arriva
owns
Grand
Central
but
still
has
the
contracts
to
operate
CrossCountry
and
Chiltern
Railways.
First
has
acquired
two
more
open
access
contracts
which
will
provide
trains
between
London
and
South
Wales,
and
London
and
Stirling,
both
of
which
will
share
at
least
part
of
their
routes
with
GWR
and
AWC.
However,
First
also
has
ambitions
to
run
more
open
access
services,
including
extending
Lumo
to
Glasgow
and
also
running
new
routes
from
London
to
Rochdale,
Paignton
and
Hereford.
Arriva,
meanwhile,
is
promoting
a
new
route
between
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
and
Brighton,
while
Alstom
wants
to
revive
direct
services
between
London
and
Wrexham
and
Virgin
wants
to
return
to
the
West
Coast
Main
Line
by
providing
up
to
35
departures
a
day
from
London
Euston.
Mr
Goodman
says:
‘DfT
analysis
suggests
that
the
sum
of
annual
abstraction
of
each
of
the
currently
live
Open
Access
application
would
be
up
to
£229
million
(2024/25
prices),
not accounting
for
the
revenue
impacts
resulting
from
those
services
interacting.’
The
Hereford
proposal
has
also
caused
concern
at
Network
Rail,
which
is
worried
about
the
presence
of
level
crossings
on
the
route
and
limited
capacity
nearer
London.
It
is
not
the
first
time
that
the
DfT
has
turned
a
cold
shoulder
on
more
open
access.
Transport
secretary
Heidi
Alexander
warned
on
6
January
this
year
that
‘We
need
to
be
mindful
of
the
impacts
of
Open
Access
such
as
the
level
of
revenue
they
can
abstract
from
contracted
services
and
the
associated
implications
for
passengers
and
taxpayers.’
Almost
a
month
later
her
department
declined
to
support
any
new
applications,
apart
from
London
to
Wrexham,
in
a
letter
to
the
ORR
dated
4
February.
This
said:
‘The
Department
welcomes
the
benefits
that
Open
Access
services
can
provide,
including
improved
connectivity
and
choice
for
passengers,
but,
as
the
Secretary
of
State
set
out
in
her
letter
of
6
January
2025,
we
are
clear
that
these
benefits
must
outweigh
costs
to
taxpayers
and
operational
impacts.’
The
managing
director
of
FirstGroup’s
rail
division
Steve
Montgomery
has
expressed
concern
about
the
DfT’s
approach,
according
to
the
Financial
Times,
which
said
that
‘the
ORR
was
about
to
make
final
decisions
on
the
applications
for
open-access
operator
licences
before
it’.
Mr
Goodman
said
in
his
letter
that
the
Office
of
Rail
and
Road
is
likely
to
make
decisions
about
at
least
some
of
the
current
applications
at
board
meetings
in
the
near
future.
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