Tag: Press Release

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 12 March 2002.

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) today began formal consultation on its proposal to combine rail franchises that share major London stations.

The SRA believes that reducing the number of franchises at some of these stations would make better use of existing capacity, improve punctuality, reduce complication for passengers and improve business efficiency. The policy was first proposed in December 2001.

Two separate but related consultation documents have been issued. The first document seeks views on the overall principle of reducing operators at the major London termini – either in the near future or in the longer term – and what impact it may have in each case. Stations considered are Paddington, Euston, Waterloo, Liverpool Street, Kings Cross, St Pancras, and Victoria. Consultees include the rail industry, the London Transport Users Committee, Transport for London and the Greater London Authority.

The second document seeks views on how this policy should apply specifically to the major London stations and franchises serving Western England. Regarding Paddington, views are being sought on the possible combination of the current Great Western and Thames Trains franchises. Regarding Waterloo, comments are sought on whether Waterloo to Exeter and Reading to Brighton services should remain with South West Trains, or be transferred to Wessex Trains as previously envisaged. Finally the document seeks views on the best long-term option for services currently operated by Wessex Trains if this transfer of routes does not take place. Consultees include the rail industry, Rail Passenger Committees, local and regional authorities and MPs.

Chris Austin, External Relations Director for the Strategic Rail Authority, said:

“We proposed this new policy in December because we believe that reducing the number of train companies, particularly those that share access to a major London station, can significantly improve punctuality as well as simplify the service to passengers. Over the next twelve weeks we will be seeking the views of passenger representatives, rail companies and other key players on these proposals. We will then weigh these views very carefully before moving the policy forward.”

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 21 March 2002.

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) today announced that six parties have successfully pre-qualified as bidders for the Northern Rail franchise, which will operate urban and rural services across the North of England from 2003. The parties are:

ARRIVA Trains Limited
FirstGroup plc jointly with Keolis SA
National Express Group PLC
Connex Transport UK Limited
GB Railways Group Plc
Serco Ltd

The SRA is currently consulting formally with Passenger Transport Executives on the exact service specifications for the new 15-year franchise. Once this process is complete, the pre-qualified companies will be given 60 days to prepare detailed proposals, during which time the SRA will also consult with other statutory stakeholders. It will then select a shortlist of companies, who will be invited to submit their best and final offers. From these a preferred bidder will be selected, with whom a new franchise agreement will be signed.

Richard Bowker, SRA Chairman, said:

“The strong field that has assembled to bid for this key regional franchise again illustrates the enthusiasm and commitment to invest in the railway that exists within the private sector. This new, long-term franchise will provide a better management focus on urban and rural services across the North of England, bringing real benefits for passengers.”

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 27 March 2002.

The Strategic Rail Authority today launched the process for pre-qualifying for its new Greater Anglia franchise (announced on 19 December 2001) which aims to combine the Anglia Railways and First Great Eastern franchises, and the West Anglia section of the WAGN franchise.

The SRA is currently producing a detailed specification for the new franchise, which will be issued to pre-qualified bidders, and will consult key stakeholders to ensure their views are taken into account.

Under the timetable published today, a series of consultation meetings with key regional passenger groups, local authorities and other regional stakeholders will start from 29 April. In addition, the SRA is inviting parties to pre-qualify for the Greater Anglia franchise, before the formal bidding process begins in Summer 2002 of this year, with a view to letting the new franchise by Summer 2003. The SRA intends to consult pre-qualified parties on the scope of certain enhancement options for the franchise.

SRA Chairman Richard Bowker said:

“Franchise consolidation, where there is close geographical proximity and a single London terminus, was a main theme of the SRA new franchise policy launched in December. Given the capacity pressures on Liverpool Street’s approaches, having just one operator, as opposed to three, makes good sense in operational and passenger service terms.

” We want to provide as much clarity as possible to bidders about what we expect the Greater Anglia franchise to deliver, and we want to ensure stakeholders have the opportunity to contribute their views, which is why we are starting a consultation process. The new Greater Anglia franchise needs to provide benefits both for passengers who use local and regional services and the many thousands of commuters who travel daily to the capital”.

A seamless transfer to the new franchise will be facilitated by an agreement reached today between the SRA and GB Railways to stabilise the financial position of the existing Anglia Railways franchise following the protracted losses suffered by the company since the Hatfield accident in October 2000.

Under the deal, the SRA has allocated £23.7 million of additional subsidy, which includes an immediate payment of £3.2million to Anglia Railways until March 2004 to ensure that its services continue to operate at current levels, with a provision for the SRA to share in any upside should the company perform better than forecast. In addition, the deal provides for the franchise to be terminated early, on 6 months notice, to facilitate the creation of the Greater Anglia franchise earlier than 2004.

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 14 May 2002.

The Strategic Rail Authority and Merseytravel have pre-qualified six parties as bidders for the new Merseyrail Electrics Agreement, to operate local passenger rail services in the Merseyside area following the expiry of the current Arriva Trains Merseyside franchise in February 2003.

The parties are:

• Arriva Trains Limited (incumbent franchisee)
• Connex Transport UK Ltd
• Serco Limited
• TRANSDEV plc jointly with RATP International
• NS/Dutch Railways
• Keolis SA

All six bidders are required to submit initial proposals for the contract by 28 June 2002. A Parliamentary Order is being taken forward for the Merseyrail Electrics services to be exempt from the SRA’s franchise responsibilities, allowing Merseytravel to let the services as a local concession. The SRA and Merseytravel are jointly running a competition to select an operator for the Merseyrail Electrics services.

SRA Chairman Richard Bowker said:

“I am very pleased with the level of interest, including overseas operators, in this important urban rail operation. The SRA will be working closely with Merseytravel to assess the proposals put forward by the six bidders, with a view to developing standards of service and performance on the Merseyrail Electrics network.”

Chair of Merseytravel, Mark Dowd said:

“We’re delighted with the progress we’re making with the SRA on the future of the Merseyrail Electrics network which is so important to many thousands of people in our region.”

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 21 May 2002.

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) today announced that nine parties have pre-qualified as bidders for the new Greater Anglia franchise, which will operate all the regular services out of London Liverpool Street, as well as local services within East Anglia.

The pre-qualified bidders are:

• GB Railways Group Plc (incumbent of ‘Anglia Railways’ franchise)
• Firstgroup plc (incumbent of ‘First Great Eastern’ franchise)
• National Express Group (incumbent of ‘West Anglia Great Northern’ franchise)
• Arriva Trains Ltd
• Connex Transport UK Ltd
• Great North Eastern Railway Ltd
• GOVIA (The Go Ahead Group plc and Keolis SA)
• NS/Dutch Railways
• Virgin Rail Group Ltd

SRA Chairman Richard Bowker said,

“This impressive field of bidders for the new Greater Anglia franchise clearly demonstrates the importance and future potential of the railways to this rapidly growing part of the country. The strength of the field also indicates that the industry supports our proposals for a single franchise serving the region. This reinforces our belief that the new franchise will deliver an improved level of service for passengers”.

The SRA is currently consulting key regional stakeholders including local government and passenger representatives, about their aspirations and priorities for the franchise. This is the first stage of a dialogue which will continue alongside the franchise replacement process. Formal bidding will begin in Summer 2002, with the intention of signing a Franchise Agreement with the successful bidder in Summer 2003.

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 1 July 2002.

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) today announced a £29m package that will enable continued progress with major improvements on the country’s largest rail franchise, South West Trains.

Specific commitments from South West Trains include:

• Commissioning and introduction of new ‘Desiro’ trains, driver training, and leasing and modification of depots for maintenance of the new fleet;
• Introduction of extra capacity on rush hour services from Winter 2002, including those from Alton, Portsmouth, Basingstoke, Woking and Eastleigh;
• Additional Sunday services both ways on the Waterloo to Reading, Chessington, Windsor and Hampton Court routes, and additional evening services from Portsmouth and Poole to Waterloo – as introduced in this Summer’s timetable;
• Further development work on the extension of platforms to accommodate longer trains, and continued progress on funding mechanisms for these and other station improvements;
• Preparatory work for increasing services on the Windsor Lines.

In April 2001 the SRA announced it had signed ‘Heads of Terms’ with Stagecoach Group as Preferred Counterparty for a new South West Trains franchise. The company has started implementation of these and other early improvements included in the Heads of Terms, and the Deed of Amendment announced today provides firm contractual commitments to their delivery whilst negotiations continue towards the long-term franchise.

The Deed of Amendment provides for increased SRA franchise payments to the company totalling £29 million to February 2003.

Nick Newton, Chief Operating Officer at the SRA, said:

“Today’s agreement is of real importance to travellers on the very busy South West Trains network. With the company’s continued commitment to getting 785 new carriages into service, ongoing planning for longer platforms, and introduction of more services and capacity, passengers will shortly start to see tangible improvements. Meanwhile the SRA will continue detailed negotiations with Stagecoach Group on a new long-term franchise.”

Graham Eccles, Chairman of South West Trains, said:

“Both the SRA and Stagecoach are committed to putting the needs of the passengers first. We are working closely with the SRA to ensure that our network is ready for the new trains and to improve services to passengers in the meantime. There is no need to delay these improvements while the fine details of the franchise are still being discussed.”

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 22 July 2002.

The SRA welcomes the signing of an interim agreement with Virgin Rail Group regarding the West Coast Main Line and Virgin Cross Country franchises.

This agreement holds good the business while long-term solutions are explored by the SRA and Virgin Rail Group together.

SRA Chief Operating Officer, Nick Newton said:

“This specific, interim agreement between the SRA and Virgin Rail Group makes passenger sense and taxpayer sense and is bound by stringent terms and conditions. It delivers stability while the SRA works with Virgin Rail Group to identify and secure the best future for passenger service and delivery on these routes.

“Significantly, this agreement focuses on service delivery now and in the future, rather than on remonstrating about past problems.”

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 2 August 2002.

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) has secured quicker delivery of new trains and measures to improve service performance on Midland Mainline’s South Yorkshire to London rail franchise.

The first of two new agreements announced today commits Midland Mainline to the earlier introduction of the full fleet of new ‘Meridian’ trains, improved train maintenance facilities, refurbishment of High Speed Trains and other passenger benefits. This alteration to the company’s franchise extension agreement prioritises service performance over infrastructure improvements, which further analysis has revealed cannot deliver significant journey time reductions.

The second agreement is a passenger benefits package worth £10.3 million. The action plan that has been agreed is directly targeted at improving reliability and punctuality and is already delivering improvements. The package takes account of service cancellations on Midland Mainline between Summer 2000 and Autumn 2001 resulting from poor train reliability.

Nick Newton, SRA Chief Operating Officer, said:

“The package announced today focuses on continuing to improve performance for passengers on Midland Mainline. This follows a period up to last Autumn when performance slipped from what had been a high standard – a situation that the company has already taken major strides in rectifying.

“We have reassessed priorities for the franchise extension, and the medium term emphasis will now be on delivering better performance and higher standards of passenger comfort and service. Longer term enhancements to the route infrastructure will be considered as part of the SRA’s strategic planning, in consultation with Midland Mainline and other key stakeholders.”

Passenger Benefits

The following improvements replace the infrastructure element of the franchise extension agreement, or compensate for poor performance. These improvements are in addition to other key elements of the franchise extension, including the construction of a new East Midlands Parkway station, additional peak time services, and an hourly service to Leeds.

• Bringing forward full introduction of the new fleet of 127 Class 222 ‘Meridian’ carriages to January 2005 (as announced in February – originally a phased introduction until May 2007)
• Leasing of two additional High Speed Train sets and an additional Turbostar Train set to improve reliability
• Internal and external refurbishment of the existing High Speed Train fleet
• The renewal of engines in 14 High Speed Train power cars
• Creation of a larger pool of spare engines and parts for High Speed Trains
• New maintenance depots in North London and South Yorkshire
• New Head of Engineering appointment & recruitment of 12 additional train maintenance staff
• Improved passenger satisfaction targets from Autumn 2006
• Installation of customer information screens in Derby and Leicester station car parks*
• Provision of more detailed and up-to-date passenger information regarding performance
• Various operational, marketing and capacity improvement initiatives

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 24 June 2005.

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) has today published its final Gauging Policy, following a 3 month consultation. The Policy is designed to ensure that the industry makes the optimum use and deployment of its existing rolling stock and infrastructure. It offers benefits over the short, medium and long term – for both passengers and freight customers.

The Policy is the result of twelve months cross-industry collaboration and summarises the key findings of the cross-industry study group and their proposals. The Policy does not require substantial additional investment; instead most improvements can be realised through greater certainty and planning.

The key components that it is anticipated that the Policy will deliver are:

• Detailed maps, supported by descriptive databases defining where both freight and passenger vehicles are cleared to run;
• Much-simplified gauging approvals procedures (little formality should be required where a vehicle’s gauge is compatible with that stated for the infrastructure);
• A reduced number of standardised passenger vehicle gauges, in most cases larger than those in use today and optimised for defined types of operations and classes of route, each able to operate over an extensive portion of the network;
• A defined ‘core network’ for gauge-sensitive freight traffic;
• A wider range of standard and more easily comprehensible freight vehicle gauges to best suit the markets’ requirements and reap maximum benefit from the available gauge opportunities;
• A target structure gauge configuration defined on a route-by-route basis, taking account of both passenger and freight needs; and
• Optimised track position, to be achieved over time by routine maintenance with new and renewed structures being built to the defined gauge.

The Policy works towards creating a more holistic approach to investment in the industry by looking at the value for money to be obtained from addressing pinch points in the infrastructure rather than designing and procuring new fleets of trains.

SRA Chairman, David Quarmby, said:

“This Gauging Policy shows there is still great untapped potential within Britain’s existing railway network. It provides a framework to improve the fit between track and trains and facilitate improved services for both passengers and freight customers. I look forward to the Policy being taken forward energetically under the aegis of the Rail Safety and Standards Board, with the full support of the industry behind them.”

Andrew McNaughton, Chair, joint industry Vehicle-Structures System Interface Committee, said:

“This is a significant step forward in defining the railway that freight and passenger operators seek, to ensure the UK rail network develops to meet the needs of the coming years. It has been constructed by leading representatives of the whole railway industry working together co-operatively to balance commercial aspirations for growth with the physical realities of our Victorian heritage. The work of defining precise train and network sizes can now move forward quickly.”

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 24 June 2005.

The final Great Western Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy was published today by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA). Its aims are to reduce overcrowding and improve service patterns for passengers by making better use of existing tracks and trains on the route, to drive improved punctuality and reliability.

The Strategy, which covers the Thames Valley, the Cotswolds, South Wales and the West Country for the period up to 2012, is capable of delivering:

• Over 800 more seats for peak-time Thames Valley commuters into London Paddington station – another 4% capacity increase over and above that introduced in December 2004;
• Improved local and regional services across the wider Bristol, Cardiff and South West areas, including additional peak seating capacity, more regular pattern timetables and greater cross-Bristol journey opportunities;
• Additional high-speed, high-capacity rolling stock should be allocated to Paddington services, ensuring that all Main Line trains are operated with 125mph-capable stock.

Many of the changes could be introduced with the start of the new Greater Western rail franchise in April 2006. The proposals build on the improvements already introduced in December 2004 through the ‘wider benefits’ timetable, agreed between the SRA and First Group as a result of the new First Great Western Link (Thames Trains) franchise.

Jim Steer, Managing Director for Strategic Planning at the SRA, said:

“Today’s Utilisation Strategy has the potential to deliver marked improvements in performance and level of service. The Greater Western franchise specification, issued to bidders earlier this month, builds on the RUS and has the common objective of making best possible use of available capacity and matching services to demand.”

In order to deliver the Strategy’s benefits there will need to be a small reduction in the overall number of trains between Bristol and Penzance (eliminating duplication and introducing a more even-interval timetable).

Following stakeholder feedback there have been important changes from the consultation version of the RUS, issued in January 2005: This includes the fact that Greenford Line services will no longer be reduced in favour of additional services to Slough.