The
Scottish
Government
assumed
control
of
the
Caledonian
Express
contract
yesterday,
after
Transport
Scotland
had
decided
that
an
extension
of
Serco’s
franchise
would
not
offer
value
for
money

(writes
Sim
Harris).

The
formal
changeover,
if
usual
industry
practice
was
followed,
would
have
been
at
02.00
on
Sunday
morning,
when
legal
responsibilities
would
have
been
transferred.

The
nationalisation
of
another
private
sector
operator
was
not
particularly
unusual.
It
is
just
under
a
month
since
FirstGroup’s
National
Rail
Contract
for
Transpennine
Express
was
transferred
to
a
company
owned
by
the
Department
for
Transport’s
Operator
of
Last
Resort.

But
the
Sleeper
changeover
was
slightly
different.
The
last
TPE
franchise
was
effectively
paused
in
March
2020
when
the
first
Emergency
Measures
came
into
effect,
and
was
officially
abolished,
along
with
all
other
English
franchises,
in
September
of
the
same
year.

Caledonian
Sleeper
was
still
technically
a
franchise,
although
it
too
had
been
paused
in
April
2020
and
was
being
administered
under
an
Emergency
Measures
Agreement
with
the
Scottish
Government.

As
such,
it
was
the
last
of
its
kind,
which
meant
the
final
train
run
by
a
franchised
operator
from
London
Euston
departed
at
23.45
on
Friday
night,
bound
for
Edinburgh
and
Glasgow
Central.

The
first
franchised
train,
incidentally,
was
South
West
Trains’
departure
from
Twickenham
to
London
Waterloo
at
05.10
on
4
February
1996.
(Great
Western
Trains
should
have
been
first,
with
its
unadvertised
01.50
service
from
Fishguard
Harbour.
This,
had
it
departed
on
time,
would
have
moved
seamlessly
into
the
new
era
somewhere
near
the
site
of
the
former
Jordanston
Halt.
In
the
event
the
train
was
replaced
by
a
bus
because
of
engineering
work
further
down
the
line,
and
the
bus
was
late.)

Operators
now
fall
into
three
categories.
The
first
are
owned
by
government,
the
second
have
National
Rail
Contracts,
and
the
third
have
less
specific
Direct
Awards,
such
as
Avanti
West
Coast.

This
does
not
prevent
the
mainstream
media
referring
from
time
to
time
to
‘franchises’.
and
even
some
operators
(who
should
know
better)
still
mention
their
‘franchise
area’.

In
theory,
at
least,
the
creation
of
Great
British
Railways
should
usher
in
new
Passenger
Service
Contracts
which,
if
the
recommendations
of
Keith
Williams
in
the
2021
Plan
for
Rail
are
followed,
will
be
very
similar
to
the
low-risk
concessions
which
already
apply
on
operators
like
London
Overground.
LO
is
run
by
Arriva,
but
the
contract
with
Transport
for
London
is
a
tight
one,
and
although
Arriva
is
exposed
to
minimal
commercial
risk,
it
also
has
very
little
commercial
freedom.

What
is
still
unclear
is
just
what
a
Passenger
Service
Contract
will
involve.
Privatisation
enthusiasts,
both
within
and
outside
the
industry,
want
these
contracts
to
be
as
loosely
framed
as
possible,
to
allow
the
private
sector
to
take
a
significant
part.
On
the
other
hand,
those
in
favour
of
public
ownership
opt
for
full-strength
nationalisation.

As
things
stand,
the
government
is
deeply
engrossed
in
other
problems
–particularly
how
to
win
the
next
election
–
so
GBR
has
been
left
on
the
platform
waiting,
you
might
say,
for
a
train
(or
rail
replacement
bus)
which
has
yet
to
turn
up.