GWR has its franchise extended for extra year
THE company that runs mainline train services between south Wales and London has had its franchise extended for an extra year, with the possibility of further extending it into the mid-2020s.
The Government revealed the extension for Great Western Railway (GWR) as part of its shake-up of Britain’s rail services announced yesterday.
It also announced a consultation on whether to split up the Great Western franchise, which currently includes train services to and within south west England as well as the London-south Wales line.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “Now is the time to be asking big questions about how this franchise can best meet the needs of passengers and communities in the 2020s and beyond.
“In the consultation, we invite your views on whether Great Western should be retained as a single franchise in essentially its current form, or whether we should split it into smaller parts, each with a sharper focus on meeting the needs of passengers in its own local areas.”
The present franchisee, First Group, will now continue to operate the service until March 2020, a year beyond the previous conclusion date. The extension will give time for new trains and timetables to be introduced.
Negotiations will also begin on a further two-year extension to April 2022, with an option to extend this for up to another two years at the discretion of the Department for Transport (DfT). These extensions are intended to allow the changes to “bed in fully” before running a competition for a new long-term franchise.
This could be different to the current franchise if the consultation – which will run until next February – suggests passengers are in favour of splitting up the present one, which carries around 100 million passengers a year.
It could mean one firm running intercity trains between London and Bristol, south Wales and the Cotswolds as well as suburban services in the Thames Valley area.
Another west of England franchise would cover long-distance services between London and Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, in addition to regional and local trains in the central and south-western parts of the existing network.
A GWR spokesperson said: “We have built a strong reputation at GWR for working closely with our rail industry partners to deliver for our customers and the taxpayer, and the DfT’s confirmation today that it intends to extend the franchise and negotiate a further direct award lasting at least two years is a further vote of confidence.
“A period of detailed negotiation will now follow, but this opportunity will create further stability on the Great Western route as our experienced team continue their work with our partners to transform a key part of the country’s transport infrastructure.
“GWR passengers are already seeing new suburban and long-distance trains which are delivering more seats, and going forward the upgrade work allows us to change the timetable and introduce more frequent and faster services. These will keep people moving and communities prospering across the network for generations to come.”
The spokesperson added: “With huge potential revenue growth anticipated in the future and, with further potential new services proposed to grow the business further, it is likely GWR would become the biggest rail franchise in the UK. In this context, we understand the DfT’s desire to explore changes to the shape of the franchise.
“At this stage, this is simply an option the DfT is exploring with stakeholders and no decisions have been taken, and even if a decision is taken to take the proposals forward, it would not actually take place until 2022 at the earliest.”