Single firm to run HS2 and InterCity services Franchise to take over West Coast and high speed routes
ASINGLE train company will run both the InterCity West Coast franchise and HS2 high-speed service between London and Birmingham.
The Government announced it was creating a new franchise called West Coast Partnership which will take over the InterCity West Coast service from 2019.
This franchise, which uses the West Coast Main Line from London to Scotland via the West Midlands, has been operated by Virgin Trains since its formation in 1997 and expires in March 2018.
West Coast Partnership will be responsible for the InterCity franchisee from April 2019 and designing and running the initial high speed services from 2026 when HS2 launches.
The franchise will run for the first three to five years of operation of HS2.
Transport minister Andrew Jones said: “We are embarking on a new chapter in our modernisation of the railways and we need world-class expertise to deliver it. HS2 will be the backbone of Britain’s railways, creating more seats for passengers on the West Coast and increasing capacity on the rest of the network.
“By combining the franchise, we are ensuring we get the right people on board at an early stage to design and manage the running of both services in the transition stage.”
Sir David Higgins, chairman of HS2 which is based in Birmingham city centre, added: “This is a real opportunity to ensure HS2 services complement and enhance existing ones. I have always been clear HS2 will not be a standalone railway but fully integrated with the wider network.”
The formal expression of interest for the West Coast Partnership is due to be published in December and an invitation to tender in around a year’s time.
Patrick McCall, co-chairman of Virgin Trains, said: “We’re immensely proud of what Virgin Trains has achieved over the last two decades and the unique and unrivalled focus on the customer we’ve brought to communities along the line.
“There are clearly huge advantages in having continuity of service during HS2’s critical enabling works – both up to the start of the new franchise in 2019 and beyond.
“We firmly believe the franchise system has brought unparalleled success to the UK rail industry, with public-private partnerships between government and franchisees like Virgin Trains delivering success, innovation and growth that would simply never have happened under public ownership.”