Franchise Announcement

[whole diary]

[grahame]

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-deal-for-rail-passengers-in-west-of-england-and-wales

More seats, more services and 2 new fleets of modern trains for passengers across the west of England, Thames Valley and South Wales.
First Great Western
Plans to give rail passengers in the west of England, Thames Valley and South Wales more seats, more services and 2 new fleets of modern trains were announced by Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin today (23 March 2015).

The government has reached an agreement with First Group plc for First Great Western (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) to continue to operate trains between London Paddington, the Cotswolds, South Wales and the south west until April 2019.

The new deal will include a host of extra benefits for passengers including:

around 3,000,000 additional seats per year by 2018 across the franchise
4000 more morning peak seats into London every day by December 2018
proposals for a brand new fleet of privately funded trains
more trains into Devon and Cornwall
the introduction of 369 new carriages through the roll-out of new hi-tech Intercity Express Programme trains built by Hitachi
the introduction of 58, 4-car electric trains for Thames Valley services
faster journeys between Penzance and Paddington and London to South Wales, Oxford and Bristol
a ^30 million investment to improve stations and car parks, introducing 2000 more car park spaces (plus additional funding from partners)
a ^3.5 million station development match fund
a ^2.5 million accessibility fund

[Lee]

Transport Secretary statement to Parliament - https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/rail-franchising-great-western

[ellendune]

First Great westerns interactive page seems a little more informative  https://content.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/greater-west/?utm_source=BAGWDM&utm_medium=DM&utm_campaign=BAGWcrm

[PhilWakely]

Have I missed something here?

Exeter St David's
Brand new electric trains for journeys into and out of London

whereas

Tiverton Parkway
More modern trains for journeys between London and Devon and Cornwall

(my highlighting!)

[stuving]

The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) TV South local news this morning was saying that there is to be a new fleet of privately-funded trains (i.e. not the SETs^▸ (Super Express Train (now IET))) for the South-West, which is a surprise. So it would be, but of course that can't realistically be done within this mini-franchise. Paul Clifton explained that, being non-electric, they need bigger engines so will be very expensive. So, if it is true, where does it come from? Their on-line piece does not say that:

From the BBC:

23 March 2015 Last updated at 08:29

FirstGroup's Great Western rail deal extended to 2019


The new Intercity Express Trains will replace trains from the 1970s

Transport company FirstGroup has extended its deal with the government to run services on the Great Western rail network until 2019.

The new franchise covers a period in which a series of upgrades will take place along the Great Western network.

Those improvements include electric train services for the first time on the network, starting with services in the Thames Valley.

Upgrades will also include additional train capacity at peak times.

First Great Western will pay the government about ^68m to operate the franchise from September 2015 until April 2019.

The Department for Transport (DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)) said passengers would benefit from the addition of three million extra seats across the network by 2018.

It also said more services to Devon and Cornwall would be added to the timetable, and 369 new train carriages introduced to the network.

The DfT added that capacity during the morning rush hour commute to London would increase by 4,000 seats by December 2018.

FirstGroup will also be responsible for introducing the new Hitachi Intercity Express Trains between London, Bristol and South Wales and the Cotswolds from summer 2017.

FirstGroup chief executive Tim O'Toole said the rail operator was already working with the DfT and Network Rail to deliver the initial phases of the ^7.5bn Great Western mainline modernisation programme.

The franchise award was long expected. FirstGroup is the longest serving of the train operating companies.

In 1996, it joined a bid for one of the first railway franchises of the privatisation programme, which began under John Major's Conservative government.

It has operated the Great Western network on its own since 1998 when it took 100% ownership of the franchise.

What the statements both say is this:

Government will also work with FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to improve the performance and quality of the rolling stock serving the south west of England, particularly for intercity services, during this direct award.

Which is vague, but doesn't sound like a new brand-fleet of anything.

[PhilWakely]

I did notice this in the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) document

Paddington to Plymouth and Penzance

The benefits are:
    .....
    Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit)) cascade
    .....

In other words, you can have our cast-offs to replace our previous cast-offs that we shoved your way 

[stuving]

There was another mention in the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) TV piece, of a fleet of new EMUs^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit) in addition to ones handed on from Thamesllink. Presumably that explains this:

• proposals for a brand new fleet of privately funded trains

leaving the idea of a new fleet for the South-West looking very odd. And isn't private finance (by ROSCOs^» (Rolling Stock Owning Company - about)) normal? Even if the purchase is fronted by a ToC, there is a sale and leaseback contract behind it.

Note that the local news insert at 9:00 didn't repeat what was said at 8:30 (or indeed say anything about it!). Back in the edit suite?

[stuving]

Here is the full entry for Truro:

More seats as part of our programme to deliver three million additional seats across the network by December 2018

More frequent stopping services

More modern trains for journeys between London and Devon and Cornwall

More modern, local trains on local services

Free on-train wifi

Upgraded Sleeper services with new, more comfortable interiors and an on-board lounge bar

New lounge for Sleeper passengers

So the long-distance trains are newer, but not new ... Mk IVs pulled by something or other?

As noted elsewhere, it's not the interiors of the sleepers that are the real problem at the moment (except when it turns into an HST^▸ (High Speed Train)).

[Rhydgaled]

Have I missed something here?

Exeter St David's
Brand new electric trains for journeys into and out of London

whereas

Tiverton Parkway
More modern trains for journeys between London and Devon and Cornwall

(my highlighting!)

Tiverton Parkway says both:

• Brand new electric trains for journeys into and out of London
• More modern trains for journeys between London and Devon and Cornwall

I think the answer is that the planned IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-Westbury/Exeter semi-fast is still planned, but the final decision on Plymouth/Penzance services either hasn't been made yet or will be cascaded stock or modernised IC125s with TSI-PRM^▸ (Persons with Reduced Mobility) compliant doors.
------------------
The map says "No benefits for this station in current improvement plan". That sounds rather ominous to me, as it leaves open the possibility that the draft IEP diagrams (with a notable reduction in seats for Swansea, and a small one for Cardiff) are still the way the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) is thinking.

[stuving]

This bit of text:

Brand new electric trains for journeys into and out of London

is used for all places due to get SETs^▸ (Super Express Train (now IET)), including bi-modes running off-wire.

So it's there on the Cotswold Line, but not the line from Newbury to Cogload. There, and past Exeter, it says:

More modern trains for journeys between London and Devon and Cornwall

It is, however, uses from Bristol to Exeter - suggesting some services (maybe not all) will be bi-modes. Given there did not seem to be enough of them in the contract to run the previously promised service,  it will be interesting to see how that will be done.

[ray951]

I had a tweet via Railways Illustrated that said
"Hitachi have been named by First as preferred supplier for 29 extra IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) trains for FGW^▸ (First Great Western) subject to approval by the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)."

Had another tweet via Rail magazine that said
"Proposed FGW Hitachi AT300 fleet will have more powerful engines than IEP sets to cope with hills in Devon and Cornwall".

I am now confused because I thought IEP was based on AT300 and i have also seen mention that 360 AT300 vehicles have been ordered.

Also I guess we should remember that we are only weeks away from a General Election

[stuving]

Railway Gazette has more:

The franchise will also deploy 58 four-car EMUs^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit) on Thames Valley suburban services from London Paddington. These will include 21 Class 365 units coming off-lease at Great Northern under the Thameslink Programme, the 29 Class 387/1 units currently entering service at Thameslink as a stopgap measure pending delivery of Siemens Class 700s and an extra eight Class 387s to be ordered from Bombardier as an option on Govia Thameslink Railway^s current order for Gatwick Express Class 387/2 units.

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) hopes to conclude negotiations with the Department for Transport by the end of June for the introduction of seven 9-car and 22 five-car inter-city trainsets to replace its IC125 High Speed Trains on routes between London and Devon and Cornwall from the summer of 2018. FirstGroup has already selected Hitachi Rail Europe as preferred bidder to supply 200 km/h AT300 bi-mode trains, which would be similar to the IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) sets but with an enhanced diesel rating to cope with steeper gradients in Devon and Cornwall. They will run as electric trains between London and Newbury, and have larger fuel tanks to cater for the longer journeys to Plymouth and Penzance. According to the franchisee, these could cut journey times from London by 5 min to Exeter, 6 min to Plymouth and 14 min to Penzance.

That's almost the end of the mini-franchise, and doesn't sound like what's meant by "more modern trains". Nor does it explain what is being shown for Bristol-Exeter.

[paul7575]

The map says "No benefits for this station in current improvement plan". That sounds rather ominous to me, as it leaves open the possibility that the draft IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) diagrams (with a notable reduction in seats for Swansea, and a small one for Cardiff) are still the way the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) is thinking.

That seems the standard line for any station for which FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are not the operator.  As an example of its inaccuracy, Bramley and Mortimer report EMU^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit) operation of services, but Basingstoke, (there destination) shows 'no benefits' - presumably because it is an SWT^▸ (South West Trains) station...   

Weird that they can't say anything about the Basingstoke service then, as its obviously going to get EMUs.

Paul

[Richard Fairhurst]

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) appear to be sending out emails to local stakeholders with more details. Here's the one for the Cotswold Line:

There is some great news for the North Cotswolds building on the timetable changes that we are introducing this May, which include an earlier and faster morning peak service arrival for customers from Hereford and Worcester into Paddington, a new morning service from Moreton-in-Marsh to London, two additional direct services from Worcester to Paddington and another direct Paddington to Worcester service (with a two hour journey time).

From May 2017, the deal will mean:

^        New services to and from Great Malvern, and between London and Worcester

^        New Super Express Trains, introduced as part of the Government^s Intercity Express Programme, providing a significant improvement in rolling stock quality and passenger comfort.  These will appear in summer 2017

^        Ten carriage trains on peak services will have 15% more standard class seats than on the High Speed Trains on the route today


In December 2018, the deal will mean:

^        A major timetable change, with hourly intercity services over the route to/from Worcester (and extensions to/from Hereford in certain hours)

^        Journey time reductions with times from Worcester to London typically 7 minutes quicker and the fastest journey to the capital taking only 2 hours

The franchise, which runs from September 2015 through to at least April 2019, also includes ^50 million investment with our partners to improve stations including 2,000 new car park spaces across the network, customer information improvements and improved PA^▸ (Public Address) systems.

This includes:

^        a new car park extension at Kingham offering over 100 additional spaces, which we aim to have in place before the start of the new franchise

^        Further car park extension plans subject to consents at Charlbury and Hanborough. 

^        New ticket vending machines at Evesham and Moreton-in-Marsh

We will also continue to work in close partnership with Network Rail, the Department for Transport and local stakeholders on Worcestershire Parkway station, the raising of line speeds and the case for redoubling further sections of the North Cotswolds line.

All our trains will be equipped with free wifi, we will be adding 100 more customer-facing colleagues on long-distance trains and the deal also sets up a ^2.2 million fund to target station and train service improvements around areas of social need and lower income communities; along with more apprenticeships, a community work placement scheme, and a ^Get into Railways^ mentoring programme with the ^Prince's Trust^.

We will also be expanding the use of the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) brand, currently used on our long distance First Class carriages and will begin a rebrand before the start of the new franchise.

Until such a time as the actual agreement gets published, perhaps we could collate these emails here in the Coffee Shop?

[ChrisB]

On Oxford, it states

Continued funding for the local Community Rail Partnership to help improve services (sic) and encourage local rail travel

Local CRP^▸ (Community Rail Partnership)? News to me.....