Shortlisted bidders for the new Northern franchises

Posted on August 19, 2014 by admin

The Department for Transport have now announced the list of shortlisted bidders for the Northern and TransPennine franchises.

Anyone who advocates a return to a state-run, state-owned railway will be pleased, as all three of the bidders for the Northern franchise and one of the bidders for the TransPennine franchise are either fully or partially state-owned. The states in question are The Netherlands (Abellio), Germany (Arriva), France (Keolis and Govia).

Department for Transport press release follows:

Three companies have been shortlisted to run the Northern franchise and 3 are being considered for the TransPennine Express franchise.

Train companies that are in the running to transform rail services across the north have been announced by the government today (19 August 2014).

Three companies have been shortlisted to run the Northern franchise, while 3 companies are being considered for the TransPennine Express franchise. All of these companies have successfully passed the pre-qualification stage, and will now be asked to develop their plans for the franchises before they receive the government’s invitation to tender in December.

Bidders will be expected to show how they will make the most of the government’s £1 billion investment programme for the rail network in the north of England, which will provide faster and more reliable journeys, more capacity, better trains and improved connections for passengers across the region.

The shortlisted bidders to run the 2 franchises are:

  • Northern:
    • Abellio Northern Ltd
    • Arriva Rail North Limited
    • Govia Northern Limited
  • TransPennine Express:
    • First Trans Pennine Express Limited
    • Keolis Go-Ahead Limited
    • Stagecoach Trans Pennine Express Trains Limited

Rail Minister Claire Perry said:

The north is undergoing a real rail renaissance, and we will be asking these companies to come up with innovative and ambitious proposals that will ensure a truly world-class rail network for the region.

Building a railway that is fit for the 21st century is a vital part of our long term economic plan, connecting businesses and communities, generating jobs and boosting growth, and we need strong private sector partners to help us achieve this ambition.

The new operator will also be expected to work closely with Rail North, which represents the region’s local authorities, to ensure local rail users will have more influence in how their train services are run.

Sir Richard Leese, for Rail North, said:

The companies on the shortlists demonstrate the interest there is in meeting Rail North’s desire to see the railway acting as an economic driver in the north of England.

We look forward to working with the bidders to deliver strong franchises for passengers, which reflect the aims and objectives of our long term rail strategy and the predicted growth in patronage.

Both franchises are due to be awarded by October 2015 and as they develop their bids each of the bidders will need to set out how they will capitalise on the biggest programme of rail modernisation ever.

Over the next 5 years, thanks to government investment, more than £1 billion will be spent on the rail network in the north. This includes the £600 million for the Northern Hub project, and the electrification projects in the north-west and across the Trans-Pennine routes.

The potential operators will need to demonstrate how they will use these projects to increase capacity in order to tackle crowding and meet future passenger demand; provide faster and more frequent services; and upgrade rolling stock, including proposals to replace Pacer trains on the Northern franchise. Bidders will also need to improve customer service and passenger satisfaction.

The new franchises will lay the foundations for a transformation of rail travel in the north, including the Chancellor’s plans for a high-speed network linking some of the region’s biggest cities, which he unveiled earlier this year.

The Northern and TransPennine Express franchises carried more than 110 million passengers last year, covering inter-urban, commuter and rural routes. The franchises connect passengers travelling into and between the key strategic cities of Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Manchester and Newcastle, and onwards to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

A public consultation into the future of rail services in the north closed yesterday (18 August 2014) and responses will be taken into account as the franchise proposals are developed further ahead of the invitations to tender in December.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/shortlist-for-northern-and-transpennine-express-rail-operators-revealed

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Engineering works, weekends 30th August to 14th September

Posted on August 19, 2014 by admin

Engineering work taking place somewhere between Stalybridge and Victoria on three weekends 30/31 August, 6/7 September, 13/14 September. Trains only going as far as Stalybridge. Although the timetable shows times for a connecting bus from Stalybridge to Victoria, there will still be half-hourly trains from Stalybridge to/from Piccadilly as an alternative. These might be more convenient, especially on 30th August when Man City are playing at home and the buses might struggle to keep to their published timetable.

http://www.northernrail.org/pdfs/trackworks/2309_Man-Huddersfield.pdf

 

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Northern and Trans-Pennine franchise consultation – closing date Monday 18th August

Posted on August 12, 2014 by admin

The Department for Transport is consulting on the proposed specification for the new franchises for Northern and Trans Pennine. This process will shape the train services which will operate across the North of England from 2016 onwards for about the following 10 years.

It’s an opportunity, maybe THE opportunity, to get across the message that Slaithwaite, Marsden, Greenfield and Mossley need more frequent trains.

Recorded passenger numbers have approximately doubled in about 7 years, and that’s before taking into account uncollected fares and all those ale trailers (who, if they have tickets, don’t have tickets showing Slaithwaite or Marsden as their destination so don’t show up in the figures).

The difficulty is that all those expresses get in the way of providing more local trains. The Department of Transport would see it differently, that our local trains get in the way of providing more expresses. So we need as many people and organisations as possible to fight our corner.

The deadline for responses, which have to be submitted electronically or by post, is Monday 18th August.

The consultation paper and methods of responding can be found at

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/future-of-northern-and-transpennine-express-rail-franchises

Responding to the consultation involves responding  to specific numbered questions. Some of the quesions, covering (for example) train services to such places as Barton on Humber, Barrow in Furness and Cleethorpes, are likely to be of limited relevance to passengers from Slaithwaite & Marsden.

A draft SMART response has been done in consultation with our friends from Greenfield and Mossley and incorporating some of the points made by the Campaign for Better Transport and by Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council. This is linked here as a word document.

SMART Stakeholder Consultation draft#2

We would encourage as many people and organisations as possible to respond to the consultation, to strengthen to call to increase the frequency of service as soon as practicable. Feel free to copy and paste any points you agree with into your response.

 

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A fare increase, by the back door, from 8th September

Posted on August 12, 2014 by admin

Restrictions on the validity of off-peak tickets are to be extended from 8th September. Off-peak tickets and West Yorkshire day rovers will no longer be valid between 4pm and 6.30pm on weekdays.

The practical effect is for substantial fare increases for certain journeys, particularly for passengers who currently use cheap day returns outward after 9.30 returning between 4 & 6.30.

Northern Rail will probably be the target of most of the criticism, but this time it’s not their fault. Neither is it the fault of Metro or Transport for Greater Manchester.

None of them had a choice – the responsibility rests squarely with the Department for Transport who insisted on this as part of Northern Rail’s franchise extension. A bit of honesty on their part in stating openly that “some passengers in the North will face a big fare increase” might have been welcome.

Press release dated 11th August, from Metro, follows:

Evening Peak Restrictions introduced on Northern Rail Train Services

Northern Rail announces that from Monday 8 September off-peak tickets can no longer be used between 16:01 to 18:29 on weekdays.

 

This new restriction, which already exists in Merseyside, will apply to the company’s services in West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. It means that from Monday 8 September, Off-Peak Day, West Yorkshire Train Day Rover, Family Day Rover and Day Rover tickets will no longer be valid on weekday services in West Yorkshire area and associated routes between 16.01 and 18.29.

English National Concessionary Travel Scheme pass-holders, who are currently entitled to a half-price, off-peak rail travel will be able to purchase a half-fare Anytime ticket during the evening peak period.

Franchise

Northern has reached this agreement with the Department for Transport as part of its franchise agreement. The company says in its announcement that customers who currently use off-peak tickets during the evening peak will ‘either have to travel earlier or later, or buy an anytime ticket’. These restrictions will also apply to services between Leeds/Bradford and Skipton and Leeds and Knaresborough and those between Huddersfield and Leeds, where passengers can use either Northern or First TransPennine Express trains.

Northern’s Commercial Director, Richard Allan, said,

“The majority of customers who travel at peak times, such as those with season tickets, will be unaffected by these changes but we want to make sure that those who are, know about what is happening.”

“We have consulted extensively with local stakeholders and with Passenger Focus on the detail of this change, which is part of our new franchise agreement that was announced in March.”

Commuters

Responding to Northern Rail’s announcement, a spokesperson for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority said,

“While this agreement between Northern Rail and Department for Transport to introduce evening peak restrictions should mean more space on trains for commuters travelling home, it will inconvenience some people including West Yorkshire DayRover users.

“We have always maintained that funds raised from measures such as this should be ploughed back into the network and look forward to seeing details of how these new restrictions will lead to investment in new rolling stock to cater for the growing numbers of local train users.”

Details of the changes are available on the Northern Rail website and from station staff.

The Department for Transport requested Northern to consider this introduction of evening peak restrictions to off-peak day tickets as a way of reducing the cost to the taxpayer of the Northern franchise and generating extra revenue. Northern has said it expects around 70% of passengers travelling at this time, especially season ticket holders, will benefit with more space and seats available.

 

https://www.wymetro.com/news/Changes_to_Evening_Peak_Restrictions_on_Northern_Trains/

 

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