Hong Kong metro firm given rail franchise in bid to boost punctuality
TRANSPORT Secretary Chris Grayling today brought in the operator of Hong Kong’s metro in a bid to dramatically boost punctuality and reliability on one of London’s busiest rail services.
Chinese company MTR will run South West Trains with First Group for seven years from August.
Mr Grayling said: “MTR runs one of the world’s busiest metro services in Hong Kong, on which 99.9 per cent of journeys run on time. The new operator will bring about a transformation for people travelling in and around London.”
However, the RMT union immediately opposed the move, arguing it will see money siphoned off from Britain’s railways. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “Once again the Government has refused to consider the public sector option for a major rail franchise and instead it’s a foreign state operator — in this case the Chinese state — which is set to make a killing at the British taxpayers’ expense.”
The RMT claimed about three quarters of UK rail routes were now wholly or partly owned by foreign states.
Jeremy Long, chief executive for European business for the MTR Corporation, said: “MTR is known across the world for the excellent quality of its rail services, and we look forward to working with FirstGroup to provide a bestin-class travel experience for passengers in London and the South-West.”
The punctuality level on the current South Western franchise has been 88.2 per cent, below the national average, and the new operator will have to increase it to 91.1 per cent by 2017/18.
Anthony Smith, chief executive of watchdog Transport Focus, said the main priorities of passengers using the network, which runs from London to the south coast and West Country, were boosting reliability and more space to sit and stand. First MTR South Western Trains has also pledged to deliver, under a £1.2 billion investment for the seven-year franchise:
22,000 extra seats into Waterloo each morning peak and 30,000 extra out of Waterloo each evening peak;
Quicker journeys, including 10 minutes faster from Reading to London;
90 new trains, providing more space for passengers on Reading, Windsor and London routes;
More Sunday services;
Earlier first and later last trains, including between London and Twickenham, Hounslow, Windsor, Reading, Epsom, Guildford, Portsmouth and Salisbury;
Flexible season tickets, offering a discount for passengers travelling fewer than five days a week;
New smartcard, automatically offer- ing the cheapest walk-up single or day return fare;
New Delay Repay compensation, including for delays of 15 minutes or more. Automatic claims for smartcard season tickets and advance purchase tickets bought via digital channels;
Station upgrades, more free wi-fi;
At least 1,500 new car park spaces; Live information on seating availability and crowding levels, so that passengers know the best place to stand to board the train.
Mr Grayling is also insisting on better working between the new operator and Network Rail to avoid disruptions. The joint venture, which will take over from Stagecoach, is 70 per cent First Group and 30 per cent MTR — which will also be involved in running Crossrail.