New West Coast rail franchise ‘to deliver 28,000 more seats’

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Passengers travelling between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow are ‘set to benefit from an extra 28,000 seats a day under a new flexible franchise agreement which will allow more services to be scheduled around busy periods’.

In addition, a long franchise of up to 15 years for the West Coast Main Line will encourage the new operator to invest in improvements at stations and help drive down excessive costs.

Other benefits for passengers will include the introduction of smart ticketing technology, Rail Minister Theresa Villiers said today as she launched the Invitation to Tender.

Theresa Villiers said:

“Passengers will welcome the 28,000 additional seats this new franchise will deliver everyday on what is becoming one of the UK’s busiest rail lines. A longer, more flexible franchise will encourage private sector investment, for example in improving stations.

“It will also promote greater efficiency to enable improvements to be made whilst driving down costs.

“The introduction of new requirements on passenger satisfaction will mean the operator has to focus strongly on the issues that matter most to passengers; and the roll out of smart ticketing will provide many more passengers with greater convenience and the sort of advantages already enjoyed in the capital.”

The new franchise will run from December 2012 to March 2026, with an option for the Department to extend for up to 20 months.

A total of 106 new ‘Pendolino’ carriages are being added to the West Coast route, enabling four new train sets to be introduced and 31 existing trains to be lengthened from nine to 11 carriages.

A new flexible franchise agreement gives bidders the flexibility to vary timetables on individual days of the week to cater for changes in demand, enabling the future operator to provide better services for passengers, whilst protecting existing services by specifying a minimum number of stops at each station.

5 COMMENTS

  1. How about hard-writing Blackpool and Aberystwyth direct trains into the bargain ? The former is possible with electrification and I am sure the latter could be achieved using spare 221 units freed up from Chester electrification funded by the new fanchise operator ?

    • Hi Paul,

      These potential providers will receive the Invitation to Tender which is anticipated will be issued in May 2012.

      It is anticipated that the successful bidder will be announced in December 2012, with the contract commencing in April 2013.

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