Letting of the next franchise for trains in Wales

[whole diary]

[grahame]

ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) have today announced that they are withdrawing from the bidding for the 2018 franchise.

And now from The Railway Gazette

Abellio pulls out of Wales & Borders bidding

[rogerw]

Another fall out from the Carillion failure

[Timmer]

Is there anybody left?

[welshman]

Only the French and the Chinese.

[SandTEngineer]

Seems like agreement on train service devolution has been reached at last: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/welsh-rail-services-set-to-be-devolved-following-historic-agreement

The draft Welsh Ministers (Transfer of Functions) (Railways) Order 2018 has been laid in Parliament.

Published 28 February 2018
From: Department for Transport and Jo Johnson MP^▸ (Member of Parliament)

The transfer of rail services to the Welsh government has taken a significant step forward with the laying of a draft order in Parliament.

The draft order was laid before Parliament today (28 February 2018) and will, subject to approval from MPs, Lords and the Privy Council, devolve the procurement and management of Wales and Borders franchise train services within Wales. This follows detailed discussions between the Department for Transport and the Welsh Government on how powers will be devolved to Welsh ministers.

The agreement also takes into account the fact that many of the franchise services operate on both sides of the border between England and Wales and includes safeguards to protect all passengers using these routes.

Rail Minister Jo Johnson said:
This is a positive and significant step in the franchise devolution process and is an example of the effective cooperation between the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) and Welsh governments.

The devolution of these powers delivers on recommendations made by the Commission on Devolution in Wales and demonstrates the commitment we made as a government in the 2015 St David’s Day Agreement.

Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport Ken Skates said:
I welcome this recognition of the extensive nature of the cross-border services - and services wholly within England - provided by the Wales and Borders franchise and the need for appropriate accountability for rail operations on each side of the border.

It will be important for devolution of funding for Network Rail to be delivered in the future and I will continue dialogue with the Department for Transport to that end.

As well as continuing with present franchise funding arrangements, the UK government will also provide an extra £125 million towards upgrading the Valley Lines, part of the Welsh Government’s metro project in South Wales.

The draft Welsh Ministers (Transfer of Functions) (Railways) Order 2018 was laid before Parliament following formal approval by Welsh ministers. It will go before the Commons and Lords for scrutiny.

[grahame]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Rail passengers on local services in Wales have been warned by the first minister that substantial improvements could be three or four years away.

A new operator to run the Wales and Borders franchise for the next 15 years is due to be announced this month.

Carwyn Jones said the standards of outgoing operator Arriva Trains Wales had not been good enough.

He said it was "going to take some time" for new carriages and electric services to come through.

Speaking at the opening of a revamped station in Bridgend on Monday, Mr Jones warned that improvements were "not going to happen overnight".

"If people are asking me when we are going to see real changes, I would say the beginning of the 2020s," he added.

"In three to four years' time that is when people will see real change in the service, when everything begins to fit into place.

"The last time the franchise was let, clearly to my mind standards were not as high as they should have been.

"We want to make sure standards are higher now, and whoever is successful in getting the new franchise they provide a far better service in terms of frequency and reliability.

"Using 40-year-old trains is not acceptable any more".

[grahame]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page). Long article on the franchise and on the two bidders including

The winner - also new South Wales Metro operator - is expected to be unveiled in the next 24 hours.

[grahame]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page). Long article on the franchise and on the two bidders including

The winner - also new South Wales Metro operator - is expected to be unveiled in the next 24 hours.

From The BBC

A £5bn contract to run Wales' rail service for the next 15 years has been awarded to two European firms, who will run it jointly.

France's Keolis and Spanish-owned Amey's bid triumphed over a rival offer from Hong Kong's MTR commuter railways.

It will also develop the south Wales Metro, a project worth £5bn.

The company said it was a great opportunity and promised the railway "would be unrecognisable" in five years time.

Full details of KeolisAmey's plans for Wales will not be revealed until next month.

I expect we'll have some further concern about UK^▸ (United Kingdom) rail operation by overseas railway companies and governments:

Keolis is France's largest private sector public transport operator - but it is three-quarters owned by SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways), the French state railway.

Amey was a listed UK company until it suffered a Carillion-style collapse 15 years ago. It was then bought by the Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial, which is the key shareholder and manager of Heathrow airport.

Sounds like there may be some growth in this franchise:

Transport for Wales (TfW) - which is advising the Welsh Government on the contract - said the new franchise holder will be held to account on issues like punctuality, cleanliness and service quality - or they will not get paid.

But there will be challenges ahead in terms of rising passenger numbers, which have nearly doubled in the last 15 years.

Since Arriva started running the franchise, passenger journeys have risen from 18m in 2003 to more than 30m a year in 2017, but the contract with Arriva was based on zero growth in usage - which means they are stuck with the same number of trains they had in 2003.

This has led to complaints about overcrowding and ageing carriages.

Economy Secretary Ken Skates said: "Throughout the procurement process we have prioritised investment in the quality of trains, stations and services for the Wales and Borders Rail Service and South Wales Metro.

"We are grateful to all those who have participated in the procurement process."

He said no further comment would be made until the end of the 10-day standstill period.

Alistair Gordon, chief executive of Keolis UK, said it would be a transformative new rail service for Wales and its borders and see it combine its worldwide expertise in passenger operations with Amey's "engineering excellence".

Both politicians and the rail operator alike will hope the system will be the most attractive option for travellers.

TfW will regulate fares and they will not be expected to rise more than inflation.

But new trains might take at least a couple of years to appear.

Andy Milner, Amey's chief executive, said: "While the proposed changes won't happen overnight, the railway will be unrecognisable in five years thanks to the vision of the Welsh Government."

He added that they would be focused on working with TfW to transform the existing infrastructure and introduce new trains to "significantly improve the passenger experience" as well as creating hundreds of new jobs and apprenticeships.

[welshman]

Rolling stock shortage and age are the issues.  Should we note that CAF are building a plant in Newport, I wonder?

[chuffed]

Not in Welsh either.  French, Dutch, German, and Cantonese would probably have been of more use.

The issues for bidders are electrification, infrastructure responsibility, Pacer replacements, shortage of rolling stock, and the so-called South Wales Metro scheme meant to integrate heavy and light rail and buses.

My money is on MTR.

Hope you didn't lose too much !!

[JayMac]

Details of the new franchise released this morning. Can only find news items at the moment. Nothing more substantial yet from KeolisAmey or the Welsh Assembly Government.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-44316772

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/huge-investment-running-billions-transform-14738004

[didcotdean]

Some stuff here: http://tfw.gov.wales/whats-happening

[Timmer]

All sounds great but the good rail travelling public of Wales are sure going to have to be patient. A lot of improvements and new trains not until well into the 2020s.

[SandTEngineer]

....and I'm 100% certain we will get all of the cast off rolling stock...

[JayMac]

....and I'm 100% certain we will get all of the cast off rolling stock...

Very likely if HMG continue to gift direct awards to GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).