The
c2c
National
Rail
Contract

owned
by
Trenitalia
will
end
at
02.00
on
Sunday,
as
the
operator
becomes
the
second
to
be
renationalised
by
the
Labour
government.

The
first
was
South
Western
Railway,
which
passed
into
public
ownership
on
25
May,
and
the
next
will
be
Greater
Anglia
on
12
October.

The
RMT
has
welcomed
more
renationalisation,
but
has
renewed
its
call
for
outsourcing
to
be
brought
to
an
end
as
well.

Transport
secretary
Heidi
Alexander
said:
‘Whether
you’re
shopping
in
Lakeside
or
walking
along
the
beach
in
Southend-on-Sea,
from
this
Sunday
you
will
be
able
to
get
there
on
a
train
service
run
by
the
public,
for
the
public.

‘Public
ownership
is
already
tackling
deep-rooted
problems
we
see
on
the
railway
that’s
led
to
spiralling
costs,
fragmentation
and
waste.
A
unified
network
under
Great
British
Railways
will
take
this
further
with
one
railway
under
one
brand
with
one
mission
–
delivering
excellent
services
for
passengers
wherever
they
travel.’

c2c
managing
director
Rob
Mullen
added:
‘We
are
proud
of
the
reliable
and
high
level
of
service
we
offer
our
passengers,
consistently
being
rated
as
one
of
the
best
performing
operators
in
the
country.

‘We
now
have
a
golden
opportunity
to
collaborate
with
the
wider
family
of
publicly
owned
operators,
sharing
our
successes
and
best
practice,
but
also
learning
from
a
wide
range
of
different
and
diverse
operators
who
have
already
benefited
from
public
ownership,
to
drive
even
more
improvements
for
the
people
and
places
we
all
serve.

‘A
unified
and
focused
railway
can
deliver
more
for
our
communities,
including
better
growth,
jobs
and
houses.
If
we
are
thriving
as
a
train
operator
it
helps
our
communities
to
thrive.
This
is
the
positive
feedback
loop
we
are
excited
to
deliver,
supported
by
better
and
closer
collaboration
with
our
partners
in
the
lead
up
to
GBR.’

Trenitalia
is
still
a
minority
shareholder
in


Avanti
West
Coast,
where
the
National
Rail
Contract
has
a
break
point
in
October
2026,
which
is
expected
to
be
renationalised
then.
Trentialia
is
part
of
the
Italian
transport
group
FS,
and
is
also
hoping
to
run
open
access
international
services
between
London
and
Paris.

Trenitalia
UK
managing
director
Ernesto
Sicilia
said:
‘Our
management
of
c2c
has
been
grounded
in
a
resolve
for
continuous
improvement
and
being
in
tune
with
the
needs
of
the
communities
we
serve.
We
acknowledge
both
the
progress
made
and
the
ongoing
challenges
of
unifying
a
fragmented
rail
industry.
In
the
meantime,
we
will
continue
to
support
and
deliver
services
on
the
Avanti
West
Coast
franchise
until
it
too
transitions
to
public ownership
in
2026.’

The
fact
that
cleaners
at
c2c
will
still
be
employed
by
the
private
sector
because
cleaning
is
outsourced
has
been
criticised
by
the
RMT.

The
union’s
general
secretary
Eddie
Dempsey
said:
’It
is
great
to
see
c2c
being
taken
into
public
ownership
in
an
important
step
along
the
road
to
Great
British
Railways.

‘However,
the
injustice
of
outsourcing
must
end
so
all
railway
workers
can
reap
the
benefits
of
public
ownership
and
greedy
private
contractors
can
no
longer
extract
obscene
profits
from
the
industry.

‘Our
members
working
for
Bidvest
Noonan
deserve
decent
pay
and
the
same
terms
and
conditions
as
their
colleagues
and
we
will
fight
tooth
and
nail
to
achieve
it.’

The
c2c
franchise
was
originally
known
as
LTS
when
it
began
on
26
May
1996
with
National
Express,
and
was
rebranded
c2c
around
the
turn
of
the
century.
The
meaning
of
‘c2c’
was
never
clarified.

National
Express
won
a
second
term
in
2014
but
sold
the
franchise
to
Trenitalia
in
2017.
All
DfT
franchises
were
abolished
in
September
2020
as
a
result
of
the
Covid
pandemic,
and
c2c
has
been
a
National
Rail
Contract
since
July
2021.

c2c
will
now
be
run
by
DfT
Operator,
the
former
Operator
of
Last
Resort,
which
already
runs
four
operators
which
were
renationalised
by
the
previous
government,
as
well
as
South
Western
Railway.

The
next
major
step
will
be
the
passage
of
a
Railways
Bill
in
Parliament
from
later
this
year
to
provide
the
legal
framework
for
Great
British
Railways,
the
future
‘directing
mind’
of
the
railway
industry.

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