Transport
secretary


Louise
Haigh
has
confirmed
that
the
last
private
sector
train
operating
contract
will
end
in
October
2027,
with
the
new
‘directing
mind’
Great
British
Railways
expected
to
be
functioning
by
late
2026
‘at
the
earliest’
after
the
forthcoming
Railways
Bill
has
been
passed.

There
are
ten
former
franchises
still
running
at
the
moment
under
National
Rail
Contracts
awarded
in
the
wake
of
the
Covid
pandemic.

Ms
Haigh
was
making
her
first
appearance
before
the
newly-formed
Commons
Transport
Committee
yesterday.
As
with
other
Parliamentary
Select
Committees,
its
membership
was
revised
after
the
general
election.

Another
Bill,
currently
going
through
the
House
of
Lords,
will
authorise
the
Department
for
Transport
to
take
control
of
the
former
franchises
at
the
next
‘break
point’,
or
else
when
the
core
contract
expires.
The
DfT
will
also
be
able
to
take
back
any
contract
at
an
earlier
date
if
it
has
been
breached.

The
Passenger
Railway
Services
(Public
Ownership)
Bill,
which
makes
public
ownership
the
default
rather
than
the
last
resort,
has
already
passed
its
Commons
stages
and
received
its
Third
Reading
in
the
Lords
yesterday.
It
is
expected
to
receive
Royal
Assent
soon.

Two
former
franchises
reached
their
core
expiry
dates
on
15
September,
but
the
Government
did
not
take
action
because
its
Bill
had
not
yet
become
law.
As
a
result,
West
Midlands
Trains
may
now
run
until
April
2026,
and
Greater
Anglia
until
September
2026.

The
next
two
are
Chiltern
Railways
and
Govia
Thameslink
Railway,
which
both
have
core
expiry
dates
of
1
April
2025,
and
it
seems
likely
that
they
will
be
the
first
to
be
renationalised
using
the
powers
of
the
new
Passenger
Railway
Services
(Public
Ownership)
Act.

The
last
former
franchise
is
set
to
be
CrossCountry,
which
has
a
core
term
expiring
on
17
October
2027.

The
Government
is
waiting
for
legitimate
break
points
in
contracts
before
taking
action,
to
avoid
potentially
major
claims
for
compensation.

Louise
Haigh
was
questioned
about
a
number
of
railway
issues
by
the
Committee,
which
also
heard
that
the
Railways
Bill
is
expected
to
be
introduced
next
summer.

She
said:
‘I
don’t
want
anybody
to
underestimate
the
scale
of
the
reform
challenge
that
we
are
undertaking.’

She
continued
that
the
Government
has
‘to
massively
reduce
and
simplify
the
mass
of
regulation
that
has
been
built
up
over
the
last
30
years
of
privatisation’
because
it
‘stifles
a
huge
amount
of
innovation
and
progress’
and
there
are
presently
‘dozens
and
dozens
of
competing
and
conflicting
interests’.

When
a
train
is
delayed,
she
explained,
‘Rather
than
work
together
to
see
how
we
can
fix
it
and
make
sure
it
doesn’t
happen
again,
instead
we
have
dozens
and
dozens
of
lawyers
that
argue
over
whose
fault
the
delay
was
and
how
to
attribute
the
blame
and
who
pays
for
the
faults.’

Meanwhile,
half-yearly
results
published
by
FirstGroup
this
morning
show
that
its
revenues
from
DfT
contracts
were
‘in
line
with
expectations’,
while
open
access
recorded
revenue
growth
of
£5.6
million,
or
12
per
cent,
which
was
also
as
expected.

As
the
DfT
contracts
wind
down,
operators
like
First
are
concentrating
increasingly
on
the
prospects
of
more
open
access.
First
reported
that
it
has
acquired
track
access
rights
for
new
open
access
services
between
London
and
Stirling,
while
applications
for
the
extension
of
Hull
Trains
to
Sheffield
and
Lumo
to
Glasgow
have
been
submitted,
along
with
a
new
service
between
Rochdale
and
London.
Consultations
are
‘progressing’.