The
Prime
Minister


has
spoken
in
favour
of
open
access
operators,
telling
Shrewsbury
MP
Julia
Buckley
that
he
would
be
happy
for
MPs
who
support
the
proposed
Wrexham,
Shropshire
&
Midlands
Railway
service
to
meet
rail
minister
Lord
Hendy.

Sir
Keir
Starmer
said:
’Our
plan
for
change
will
see
the
railways
reformed
to
deliver
more
reliable
and
better
value
services
for
passengers
right
across
the
country.
My
hon.
Friend
has
been
a
champion
for
better
railways
and
easier
journeys
for
her
constituents.
Open
access
operators
have
huge
potential
to
offer
passengers
more
choice.
I
will
be
delighted
to
ensure
that
she
and
other
interested
MPs
meet
the
Rail
Minister
to
put
their
case
forward.’

WSMR,
which
is
backed
by
Alstom
and
SLC
Rail,
made
a
formal
application
to
the
ORR
in
March
last
year.
It
was
the
only
one
of
a
number
of
current
applications
to
receive
even
qualified
support
from
the
Department
for
Transport
in
a
recent
letter,
which
said
the
Department
was
‘supportive
in
principle
of
WSMR’s
proposals
to
operate
new
Open
Access
services
between
Wrexham
General
and
London
Euston,
subject
to
further
assessment
by
Network
Rail
of
performance
impacts.’

Other
applicants,
who
include
Arriva,
FirstGroup
and
Virgin,
all
failed
to
win
the
DfT’s
backing. 

Transport
secretary
Heidi
Alexander
had
already
expressed
doubts
about
open
access
operators,
who
will
be
set
to
compete
with
Great
British
Railways
from
2026
or
2027.

Before
last
July’s
election
Labour
had
said
that
‘wherever
there
is
a
case
that
open
access
adds
value
and
capacity
to
the
network,
they
will
be
able
to
continue
to
compete’.

But
in
a
letter
to
the
ORR
in
January,
Ms
Alexander
said:
‘‘I
am
…
aware
of
the
additional
pressures
new
services
can
create
on
already
constrained
network
capacity
and
their
impact
on
the
value
secured
from
public
investment
in
infrastructure.
While
Open
Access
operators
pay
variable
access
charges
to
Network
Rail
to
cover
the
direct
costs
incurred
running
their
trains
on
the
network,
unlike
government
contracted
operators
they
do
not
fully
cover
the
costs
of
fixed
track
access
charges.’

Major
transport
groups
have
been
trying
to
secure
open
access
licences
as
their
operating
contracts,
which
used
to
be
franchises,
expire.

The
first
train
operator
to
be
renationalised
since
the
election
will
be
South
Western
Railway,
which
will
be
taken
over
by
DfT
Operator
Ltd
at
02.00
on
Sunday.

The
next
two
operators
to
be
renationalised
will
be
c2c
in
July
and
Greater
Anglia
in
October.

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