Great Western Coffee Shop

National Express will have its East Anglia rail franchise terminated three years early, the government has said.

The Department for Transport said National Express would lose the franchise on 31 March 2011. It could have been extended until 2014 had National Express not defaulted on another franchise - the East Coast Main Line - earlier this year.

National Express said the decision was "expected", but that it was "disappointed" by the announcement.

Earlier this week, the Department for Transport announced a bidding timetable for the c2c franchise, which is up for renewal in May 2011.

"In determining the future of the c2c and NXEA franchises, my overriding concern has been to minimise disruption to passengers and staff, and cost to the taxpayer, while ensuring that train companies stand by their commitments," he said.

"However, my judgment is that the public interest would not be served by terminating the franchises immediately, necessitating state management during the refranchising period and three operators in two years."

Call for local councils to run our rail services

A radical solution to improve rail services between Norwich and London was today put forward by the city council's leader - 'let local councils run the railways'.

As National Express was stripped of its franchise to run the region's trains from 2011, Norwich City Council leader Steve Morphew put forward the surprising suggestion that local authorities in towns and cities between Norwich and London should join forces to take over the network.

As chairman of Regional Cities East - an alliance of the six councils in Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Southend-on-Sea, Peterborough and Luton - Mr Morphew intends to speak to his counterparts over the next few days to see if there would be scope in his suggestion.

He said: ^I have been wondering for a while whether the various towns and cities down the railway line could form a public company and take the rail line into public ownership.

^I'm now going to talk to the people in the other towns and cities, such as Ipswich, Colchester, Southend and Chelmsford to see what they think of it.

^The aim would be to establish some sort of public company and we would talk the Government about gifting us the assets of the track and the stations along the line.

^The company would probably finish up being some sort of multi agency arrangement a bit like a local area agreement, which is something the Government is quite keen on.

^We'd have a board, maybe of local business bosses and local councillors, but we would need a really, really strong management team to actually run the company and we might have to pay a lot to get the right people on it.

^But it would then borrow against its assets, get funding from the Government and maybe issue bonds so the company could spend money on investing in the network.

"The towns and cities would be the owners of the network and their major role is in generating prosperity in the region, so the people whose jobs and prosperities would be enhanced by a better service would effectively be the stakeholders.

"From the point of view of organisations like the East of England Development Agency (EEDA), it would be a huge boost to economic growth on our side of the region that has not seen its fair share of investment and I hope they would want a serious role in it, so I intend to talk to them about it and whether we could get any money for a feasibility study and business plan.

^For people like EEDA it would be a major generator of income growth and they would want a serious role in it, so I intend to talk to them about it and whether we could get any money for it that way.^

But he stressed: ^We are not suggesting at this stage that the new company would run both the trains and the infrastructure. The critical thing for the East of England is that the infrastructure is right. That is what this company would be committed to doing and then we can see what else is possible.

^If the track is right then any company running the trains would be more likely to be able to run a good service. We're highly unlikely ever to see a high speed link like Manchester to London because it's only a couple of hundred miles of track, but investment in the track is needed to make trains more reliable and improve journey times.^

Mr Morphew acknowledges that a lot of work needs to be done to see whether such a suggestion is feasible.

He added: ^I am going to throw it into the pot for consideration. It's a big idea to get people thinking. Initial responses may be that it is a bit far-fetched, but second thoughts have tended to be more positive.^

Norwich South MP Charles Clarke said he could see some potential in the suggestion.

He said: ^The point he is trying to make is that we need to look at it in further detail. It is now the responsibility of everyone in the Eastern region to work together to ensure that the tender process for the new franchise commits the new operator to very significant increases in service quality from Norwich.

^Such improvements need to include improved journey times to London and service extensions to Cambridge and throughout Norfolk, high quality modern rolling stock with good catering facilities, good weekend services and effective ticketing, marketing and customer information.

^I shall be discussing with a wide range of organisations the best ways in which this can be achieved, including whether new innovative operators can be identified, who put high quality public rail service to this region at the top of their priorities.^

But Richard Bacon, South Norfolk MP, said Mr Morphew's idea was ^for the birds^. He said: ^My initial reaction is that there are several problems. One is that I do not think they would have the power to do it and I am almost certain it would require the Government to pass legislation.

^Another is that there is no money which the Government could give them because Gordon Brown has spent it all. And then the record which the councils across the country have in terms of the services they do run is patchy.

^I'm not convinced local councils have the experience to run train companies. What Mr Morphew is saying is almost certainly in the realms of fantasy land.^

But at least one smaller company has already proved they can run routes. The Wrexham and Shropshire Railway is run by a tiny consortium that runs an affordable service to London on a route that the big rail companies had abandoned.

The company is local, but managed to secure the backing from Deutsche Bahn, Europe's largest train company and has been widely praised for its friendly and reliable service.

A mega-franchise is a possibility & I'm sure the DfT will look hard at this. Brear in mind there'll be a change of Government before then, so the Tories may be determining this one.....

I certainly don't want local councils running the railways - they're parochial at best, and certainly don't have regional priorities. Can you imagine a Tory Norwich council trying to work with a Labour Ipswich council, for example?!!

A year before the Olympics will allow the winner to sort themselves out - don't forget the franchise offer documents hold timeatables...so they'll actually get longer than a year.

Bit of wishful thinking eh, btline?

Bit of wishful thinking eh, btline?

Yes, perhaps. But realistic thinking. And today's interview in The Times with UKIP's new leader adds extra to the Tory woes. PROOF that Cameron had NO INTENTION to give us a referendum. Not only did he bottle it, he was dishonest. To think that his whole election campaign for the EU elections was about Lisbon when he had no intention to do anything himself makes me sick. Why? Because even I, who opposes the Tories, was taken in by it.

I think a lot of people who voted Tory for the EU elections will be annoyed.

I thoght political discussions were discouraged, meanwhile re Lisbon there's absolutely no point in a referendum now as the treaty is in force (or will be from 2300 tomorrow evening UK time. A point that the Conservatives always made.

Not meaning to get too political, but correct me if i'm wrong, but didn't Brown's administration promise a referendum?

It's all very well jumping on the "Tories not holding a referendum" band wagon, however it is not in the slightest bit practical and would achieve nothing.