West Coast Main Line - Invitation to Tender and shortlisted bidders

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

The final Invitation to Tender and associated documents for the InterCity West Coast franchise have been published on the DfTs^» (Department for Transport - about) website.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/publications/rail-passenger-franchise-intercity-west-coast/#

Nothing earth shattering in the tender and pretty much the same as last year's draft ITT^▸ (Invitation to Tender). So, more of the same (with a few extra Pendos) up and down the WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) until 2026.

The four shortlisted bidders are:

Virgin/Stagecoach (incumbent)
First Group
Abellio (NV Nederlandse Spoorwagen)
SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways)/Keolis SA.

The winning bid is due to be announced in August 2012, with the new franchise beginning at 0200 on 9th December 2012.

Place your bets now...

[paul7575]

What appears relevant to the immediate future in the GW^▸ (Great Western) area is that despite all the doom merchants suggesting that the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) would allow the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) to run trains wherever and whenever, the actual trains service requirement (TSR^▸ (Temporary Speed Restriction)) is basically the exact number of station calls they make today, (or as of the May 11 timetable).

Rumours of service decimation appear to have been premature.  So I'd expect something similar for the GW franchise ITT^▸ (Invitation to Tender) when it comes out...

Paul

[eightf48544]

How have they covered the pendo strenthening to 11 coaches if a new bidder wins are they expected to take them on?

[Btline]

Are they using the spare path for a second xx37 Liverpool service? Or a semi fast to Preston allowing Glasgow's to have Warrington and Wigan calls axed?
Will Glasgow be fully hourly now?
Pendos on the B'ham to Scotland?

Can't work it out from the table.

[BerkshireBugsy]

The final Invitation to Tender and associated documents for the InterCity West Coast franchise have been published on the DfTs^» (Department for Transport - about) website.

<snipped>

The four shortlisted bidders are:

Virgin/Stagecoach (incumbent)
First Group
Abellio (NV Nederlandse Spoorwagen)
SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways)/Keolis SA.

The winning bid is due to be announced in August 2012, with the new franchise beginning at 0200 on 9th December 2012.

OK I've never taken much interest in TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) ITTs^▸ (Invitation to Tender) before but is 3 months a realistic time frame for a new TOC to come on line?

[paul7575]

Yes.  Perfectly normal, and comparable with nearly all previous announcements.  Don't forget the timetable almost always stays the same for at least a year (or sometimes longer), and 99% of the staff carry on doing exactly the same job anyway...

Paul

[paul7575]

How have they covered the pendo strenthening to 11 coaches if a new bidder wins are they expected to take them on?

The lengthening project is to be completed by Dec 2012, this is in line with the timetable originally announced for the fleet expansion. So it doesn't need to be mentioned in the new ITT^▸ (Invitation to Tender).   When the draft ITT was first issued, it was included, but this has been overtaken by the 9 month extension to the existing franchise... 

Paul

[paul7575]

Are they using the spare path for a second xx37 Liverpool service?

There is no officially recognised demand for a second Liverpool service.  Contd p94...

Paul

[Lee]

What appears relevant to the immediate future in the GW^▸ (Great Western) area is that despite all the doom merchants suggesting that the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) would allow the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) to run trains wherever and whenever, the actual trains service requirement (TSR^▸ (Temporary Speed Restriction)) is basically the exact number of station calls they make today, (or as of the May 11 timetable).

Rumours of service decimation appear to have been premature.  So I'd expect something similar for the GW franchise ITT^▸ (Invitation to Tender) when it comes out...

Paul

Alternatively, it could be argued that the noise that the "doom merchants" originally made at the prospect of allowing TOC's to run trains wherever and whenever may well have caused the DfT to quietly drop any plans that they may have had to do so... 

Whatever the truth, I think its fair to say that we knew (as far as Intercity WestCoast is concerned) as early as 19 May 2011 that this prospect was off the agenda, thanks to this letter from former Transport Secretary Philip Hammond, which was published as one of the draft ITT documents.

There is another side of the coin, of course. By specifying (as Paul points out) pretty much the exact number of station calls they make today, (or as of the May 11 timetable) , they have effectively ruled out making any of the service level improvements that TSR consultees from various parts of the franchise area aspire to. Indeed, the final TSR is little changed from the draft TSR.

As far as the GW franchise is concerned, the DfT have said that the current level of service will provide the starting point for deciding what goes into the new franchise, and they will therefore expect bidders to base their proposals around the overall current level of service as set out in the most recent FGW^▸ (First Great Western) timetable (see here for more details).

Paul - by predicting something similar for the GW franchise ITT when it comes out, are you also predicting that the service level will remain virtually the same as now, with the aspirations of various groups in GW-land for improved services on their routes dashed?

[paul7575]

Paul - by predicting something similar for the GW^▸ (Great Western) franchise ITT^▸ (Invitation to Tender) when it comes out, are you also predicting that the service level will remain virtually the same as now, with the aspirations of various groups in GW-land for improved services on their routes dashed?

Not really, just that it shouldn't really reduce.  Projects such as Reading remodelling, electrification, and IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) (if they go ahead with it), are all intended to increase services anyway, as described in the GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) RUS^▸ (Route Utilisation Strategy). 

But there are nothing like those opportunities for change happening on the WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) at the moment.  AIUI^▸ (as I understand it) the only infrastructure change on their horizon is the remodelling at Norton Bridge - this only provides a very limited increase of one offpeak WCML fast path, it's more to do with deconflicting crosing moves.

Paul

[Btline]

Just because the number of calls are the same, it doesn't mean the level of service can't improve.

With the current spare path, new Pendos and the proposed new path following Acton Bridge, more limited stop services can run. Plus more for the Trent Valley. I'm pretty sure they'll use at least one of these 2 spare paths with the new trains. Apparently, the only reason the 2nd Liverpool path wasn't used this time round was because the Gayrgg Pendo being written off.

The extra services don't have to go to Liverpool. Glasgow, Blackpool, Edinburgh, just Crewe. All possible.

[paul7575]

That's why I deleted everything else except Liverpool. 

[woody]

The DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) has announced four shortlisted bidders to run the West Coast Main Line from December 2012.

Abellio, FirstGroup, Keolis/ SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) and Virgin go head to head to contest the franchise. The franchise is for 15 years and includes a commitment to provide 28,000 seats a day under a new flexible agreement which will allow further services to be scheduled around busy periods.
http://www.dft.gov.uk/news/press-releases/dft-press-20120120/

[paul7575]

That reference to 'Virgin' presumably includes the same 'fairly silent partner' as now though?

Paul

[Btline]

... and includes a commitment to provide 28,000 seats a day under a new flexible agreement which will allow further services to be scheduled around busy periods...

And in English? Does it mean using the spare path? What does 28,000 seats equate to, or are they counting all the 11 car pendolinos? (i.e so not many more actual services!)