Bigger and better…
Large franchises benefit from co-operation with local stakeholders
read with some interest the Industry Insider article, penned by an ‘expert’ who states that larger franchises are less successful and offer lower levels of growth ( RAIL 849).
I am a great believer in freedom of the press, but I have an old-fashioned belief that assertions should be grounded in fact, reality and evidence - something I am sure your readers also believe.
Now, of course, when your author pens his/ her articles, he/she could be forgiven for not being aware of the tremendous growth that Devon and Cornwall have witnessed as part of a large and successful franchise.
The column concludes that a stronger focus to operations in the West Country by a more local management structure is what should be preferred for the Great Western business in the region. The foundation for that conclusion is a reference to growth in passenger numbers from 8.4 million to 12.6 million (49.9%) by Wessex Trains for its five-year period of existence.
I have experience in the management of rail companies both large and small. While I manage Great Western Railway today, I have previously led teams at Thames Trains, c2c and Gatwick Express – and I have found that small is not always best.
When GWR took over the former Wessex franchise area, many branch line services were timed to connect with the stopping services to Penzance, and not the express London trains taking customers between the West Country and the capital. The fleet was maintained at Cardiff Canton, to the detriment of passengers with no effective use of local maintenance facilities at depots such as Laira or Penzance. Passenger satisfaction stood at 72% in the spring of 2007.
Since then, and under the leadership of the larger GWR franchise, services have been tailored to suit the needs of local communities while at the same time being mindful of wider, network-wide transport demands, ensuring seamless connections to the journeys passengers wish to make.
As an example of progress, each of the Cornish branch lines now has more trains and better frequency than ever, and certainly better than in Wessex Trains days.
Passenger use of GWR’s services in Devon and Cornwall has increased by a phenomenal 63.6% between 2007-08 and 2016-17, and by almost 25% for journeys to/from Devon and Cornwall in the same period.
Passenger satisfaction stands almost ten percentage points higher at 81%, having reached a high of 84% in the summer of 2016.
And this is before we introduce two trains per hour between Plymouth and Cornwall, and bring Intercity Express Trains to the main line, Castle Class (short-form HST) services onto longer-distance local trains, and Class 158s onto key commuter routes such as the Barnstaple-Exeter line.
We have done this precisely because we have a strong local management structure, which is something we can do well within a large franchise - a franchise that has the breadth of knowledge and scale of fleet and crew to manage through the breach of the line at Dawlish.
We do it through working with local stakeholders and partners.
Such as Devon and Cornwall Community Rail Partnership, who helped create Citizens’ Rail, and secured EU INTERREG funding to double the frequency of services between Newton Abbot and Paignton.
Such as Devon County Council, which helped deliver a new station at Newcourt, the first new station in Devon to open in 20 years.
Such as Cornwall Council and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership, which have helped deliver a £20 million maintenance depot at Penzance, a refurbished Sleeper service, and WiFi at every station in Cornwall.
And we continue to invest in Devon and Cornwall, working now on the multi-millionpound project to transform an old steam shed into a modern Exeter Depot facility, as well as countless station and service improvements in support of the communities and the economies we serve.
It is right that the Department for Transport consults with the people who use local rail services, and we support the DfT in that process. But it should not come as a surprise to an industry ‘expert’ that local leaders believe that the current structure is working.
The package of improvements delivered in the past few years and the phenomenal increase in customer numbers show just how much can be achieved with a single franchise prepared to co-operate with customers and stakeholders.
“Services have been tailored to suit the needs of local communities while being mindful of wider, networkwide transport demands.”