►

Incumbent
operators
win
right
to
stay


► DfT
avoids
any
more
renationalisations


► Avanti
warned
improvements
must
continue

Updated
11.42

The
Department
for
Transport
has
awarded
National
Rail
Contracts
for
Arriva
West
Coast
and
CrossCountry.
Both
will
start
on
15
October,
when
the present
agreements
expire.
The
decisions
have
avoided
the
need
to
renationalise
any
more
former
franchises,
following
the
surrender
of
TransPennine
Express.

Avanti
West
Coast,
which
is
owned
by
FirstGroup
and
Trenitalia,
has
been
battling
with
performance
problems
and
had
been
given
two
six-month terms
to
allow
time
to
recover.

Its
new
contract
will
run
for
at
least
three
years,
until
18
October
2026,
and
possibly
up
to
nine,
although
the transport
secretary
will
be
able
to
end
the
contract
at
any
time
during
the
six-year
extension
period
by
giving
three
months’
notice.

The
DfT
said
that
by
March
this
year
‘Avanti
had
already
made
significant
progress
towards
its
recovery,
with
40
per
cent
more
services
being
run and
cancellations
within
Avanti’s
control
falling
to
4.2
per
cent.
Those
arrangements
were
further
extended
to
ensure
these
improvements
would continue
and
passengers
would
feel
confident
in
using
the
services
again.’

It
continued:
‘Since
then,
Avanti
West
Coast’s
services
have
seen
further
improvements.
Cancellations
have
consistently
been
below
3
per
cent
since
March, and
as
low
as
1.1
per
cent
in
July
2023,
down
from
13
per
cent
in
January
2023.
Over
90
per
cent
of
trains
now
arrive
within
15
minutes
of
their scheduled
time,
improved
from
75
per
cent
in
December
2022.
Over
100
additional
drivers
have
been
trained
and
brought
on
since
April
2022.’

West
Coast
Partnership,
which
comprises
Avanti
West
Coast
and
the
future
operator
of
HS2,
will
earn
a
fixed
management
fee
of
£5.1
million
a year,
with
the
opportunity
to
earn
a
variable
fee
of
up
to
£15.8
million
a
year
if
punctuality
and
other
targets
are
met.
As
with
other
National
Rail Contracts,
the
owners
of
AWC
will
continue
to
take
no
revenue
risk,
meaning
that
AWC
will
pay
all
revenue
to
the
DfT
and
will
not
suffer
if
earnings fall.

FirstGroup
chief
executive
officer
Graham
Sutherland
said:
‘The
new
National
Rail
Contract
agreed
today
will
allow
our
team
to
use
its
expertise
on further
improvements.
These
include
programmes
to
refurbish
the
existing
fleet
and
to
introduce
new,
more
environmentally
friendly
trains,
which
will encourage
more
passengers
to
return.’

Transport
Focus
director
David
Sidebottom
said:
‘After
previous
poor
performance,
leading
to
missed
meetings,
appointments
and
leisure
events, passengers
will
be
relieved
that
Avanti
are
now
delivering
a
more
frequent
and
reliable
service.

‘In
Transport
Focus’
latest
Rail
User
Survey,
passenger
satisfaction
with
Avanti
West
Coast
has
improved,
now
at
87
per
cent,
the
highest
level seen
for
more
than
a
year.
Satisfaction
with
punctuality
and
level
of
crowding
on
board
is
also
recovering,
although
still
lower
than
previous
levels.

‘Avanti
must
continue
to
focus
on
improving
reliability.’

Labour
shadow
transport
secretary
Louise
Haigh
said:
‘Passengers
who
rely
on
this
abysmal
service
will
be
appalled
that,
despite
being
almost
rock
bottom
of
the
league
table
for
delays,
Avanti
is
being
awarded
a
lucrative
new
contract.
That’s
on
top
of
millions
of
pounds
in
performance
bonuses.

‘The
only
reliable
thing
about
Britain’s
railways
under
the
Tories
is
the
waste
of
taxpayers’
money,
which
the
government
has
put
into
the
pockets
of
shareholders. Rather
than
rewarding
failing
operators
by
renewing
their
contracts,
Labour
would
end
this
scandal
by
bringing
them
back
into
public
ownership
as
they
expire
and
put
passengers
first.’

Meanwhile,
Arriva
has
won
a
new
contract
for
CrossCountry
with
a
core
term
of
four
years
and
a
maximum
possible
term
of
eight
years.

The
contract
includes
the
replacement
of
High
Speed
Trains
with
‘more
modern
rolling
stock’,
refurbishment
of
existing fleets
and
direct
daily
services
between
Cardiff
and
Yorkshire,
north
east
England
and
Edinburgh
from
December
2024.

Arriva
Group’s
UK
Trains
division
David
Brown
said:
‘This
is
great
news
for
Arriva
Group,
our
colleagues
at
CrossCountry
and
for
customers
of
the railways.
I’m
proud
of
our
long-standing
reputation
in
the
UK
rail
industry
and
our
track
record
of
successfully
managing
and
delivering
train
services across
the
country.
The
government’s
confidence
in
Arriva
will
ensure
we
can
deliver
connectivity
and
more
comfortable
services.’

The
CrossCountry
award
has
come
as
the
future
of
Arriva,
which
is
owned
by
Deutsche
Bahn,
is
in
the
melting
pot.
Infrastructure
fund
I
Squared
is
a
lead
contender,
although
reported
interest
shown
by
FirstGroup
may
now
have
receded.