Govia Wins West Midlands Franchise

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May 23, 2012, 07:55:22 AM

Recommended service - hourly, according to the GWRUS. Let's work towards that service and towards ensuring all services are used.

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The DfT has announced that London and Birmingham Railway Ltd (a subsidiary of Govia) has been awarded the contract to run the West Midlands franchise (links below.)
http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=293466&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

http://www.dft.gov.uk/press/speechesstatements/statements/westmidlands

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/passenger/franchises/wmfranchise

The new franchise will begin on 11th November 2007 and will run until 19th September 2015. The DfT has the right to terminate the franchise after six years if the operator is failing to meet agreed performance targets.

The West Midlands franchise combines the current Silverlink County services between London Euston and Northampton with the West Midlands local and regional service groups of Central Trains. The Department will pay a subsidy of £1,127m (NPV) over the franchise of seven years and 10 months.

Among the list of improvements is the following :

"New class 172 diesel trains to replace the existing class 150 DMUs operating on the Snow Hill line services in the Birmingham area by July 2010."

Can we in the FGW area possibly have the Class 150's? I have a few ideas of where they could be put to good use (link below.)
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2569.msg5679#msg5679

However , the proposed fares policy is already causing controversy (link below.)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/6225170.stm

Here are some more links on this.
http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/06/franchise_win_boosts_goahead.html#more

http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/06/siemens_bombardier_to_build_21.html#more

http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/06/franchising_has_failed_says_rm.html#more

Quotes :

"The fare increase on the London to Northampton route marks the latest of several occasions when the government has allowed winning bidders of rail franchises to increase fares by more than the standard one percentage point above annual inflation."

"The policy – which has never been formally spelt out – appears aimed at meeting the sharply rising cost of maintaining the railway infrastructure and has been implemented mostly on London orbital commuter routes, where demand is heaviest and price increases are least likely to drive passengers to use cars."

"The West Midlands franchise will also see changes to refund arrangements for season ticket holders, with travellers receiving refunds only if the actual train they used was delayed, rather than for overall poor service punctuality. The move – which will be made possible by new smart card technology – looks set sharply to reduce the refunds season ticket holders receive."

Quote from: Lee on June 21, 2007, 11:40:20 AM

The Department will pay a subsidy of £1,127m (NPV) over the franchise of seven years and 10 months.

Among the list of improvements is the following :

"New class 172 diesel trains to replace the existing class 150 DMUs operating on the Snow Hill line services in the Birmingham area by July 2010."

So - let's see.

In the West Midlands, the GOVERNMENT pays the OPERATOR an average of 145 million pounds per year and they get new trains and (one hopes) an appropriate service.

In the South West, the OPERATOR pays the GOVERNMENT an average of 110 million pounds per year, and we have the oldest trains in the country, a system that is failing already (over 18% cancellations here at Melksham so far this week - a town of around 24,000 which has only two round trips by train a day, scheduled at inappropriate times) and a statement that we'll not have new trains to replace the current ones until 2016.

Does this look a bit unequal to you too?

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