East Coast
Ministers plan a new Partnership model to run East Coast, under a single brand and overseen by a single leader.
MINISTERS are preparing to launch a fresh competition for East Coast services, with 2020 pencilled in as the date for a new operator to take over in a format very different from today’s because it will bundle track and trains under one brand with one leader.
Modelled on ScotRail, the East Coast Partnership could replace Virgin Trains East Coast, which has admitted to financial difficulties with the eight-year deal that started in 2015 and which is set to run to 2023.
VTEC majority owner Stagecoach is in talks with the Department for Transport, and said on November 29: “The Government is currently in discussion with StagecoachVirgin with the aim of putting into place new contractual arrangements in early course to facilitate the transition to the East Coast Partnership model over the next two years.”
The DfT said: “The East Coast Partnership will be operated by a single management, under a single brand and overseen by a single leader. It will see the train operator actively collaborate with Network Rail to bring its expertise and a passenger view to the planning of infrastructure management and to developing future plans for route infrastructure; create a unified ‘one-team’ identity and brand across Network Rail route and train operator; and ensure staff share in the success of the railway.”
East Coast Main Line users include open access operators Grand Central and Hull Trains as well as freight companies and other franchises, including Northern, TransPennine Express, CrossCountry, ScotRail, East Midlands Trains and TSGN (Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern). With the line’s dominant operator working under the same brand and leader with Network Rail, DfT says the line’s
Route Supervisory Board that has been created will ensure that no operators are disadvantaged by the new arrangements.
Stagecoach’s and Virgin’s 2015 deal with DfT promised to pay £3.3 billion to government over the life of the franchise. It is scheduled to pay £325.7 million in 2020, £423.6m in 2021, £516.1m in 2022 and £594m in 2023.
The pair took over from DfT subsidiary Directly Operated Railways, that had been running the line since 2009 when National Express surrendered its franchise amid financial problems.
Joint working will also be a feature of the next South Eastern franchise, for which DfT released its Invitation to Tender (ITT) on November 29 to bidders Stagecoach, Go-Ahead/Keolis and Abellio/East Japan Railway Company/Mitsui. DfT said South Eastern would be run by a joint team headed by an alliance director responsible for delivery and performance.
DfT also plans to publish an ITT for East Midlands in 2018. It said it expected bidders to work collaboratively with NR to “meet the challenges of operating a franchise on a multi-user infrastructure that also operates across many NR route boundaries”.
Ministers confirmed on November 29 a long-standing intention to split the TSGN operator from 2021, with the completion of the Thameslink Programme. It said it would review the future size and shape of the franchises that will replace TSGN, and explore with Transport for London the options for transferring some West London Line services.
Rail Delivery Group Chief Executive Paul Plummer said: “Introducing greater competition by creating smaller franchises will ensure customers and the communities we serve are even more the focus of what we do.”
Shadow Transport Secretary Andy McDonald said: “Track and train partnerships have been tried recently on the railway and have failed. The public overwhelmingly supports our railways being run under public ownership, in the public interest. Today’s announcement will take us further away from that.”