Passenger Rail Franchising

Author : Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Transport Committee
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 292 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : IND:30000110371501

Get Book

Passenger Rail Franchising by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Transport Committee Pdf

It is thirteen years since the Railways Act 1993 started the process of privatising British Rail, replacing it with one company owning and managing the infrastructure, an open-access system for freight services and a series of twenty-five passenger franchises let to private companies for a specified period of time. This period has seen almost continuous change, and there is now a new 'triumvirate' framework with the Department for Transport, the Office of Rail Regulation and Network Rail in place, with the third generation of franchises in the process of being let and the number being reduced to nineteen. The Committee's report examines the current franchising system, focusing on the coherence of its objectives, the effectiveness of the process for awarding franchises and the management of franchise agreements, and whether more competition and vertical integration is needed. Findings include that the current system represents a policy muddle which lacks a coherent framework for the development of good services and delivery of value for money for passengers and taxpayers. The only way the Government can increase capacity and improve services for the long-term is to drop the dogmatic pursuit of competition in its decision-making as to what the private and public sectors can and should do in future. The Government's forthcoming long-term strategy for the railways will need to address these issues, and to set out a structure and a strategy capable of securing quality passenger rail services to meet demand over the next half a century.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 8 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2001
Category : Electronic
ISBN : OCLC:1117177425

Get Book

Passenger Rail Franchising by Anonim Pdf

Author : Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee of Public Accounts
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 21 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 1997
Category : Government business enterprises
ISBN : 0102275971

Get Book

Office of Passenger Rail Franchising by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee of Public Accounts Pdf

Author : Great Britain: Parliament: House Of Commons: Committee Of Public Accounts
Publisher : The Stationery Office
Page : 21 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2016-02-12
Category : Railroad companies
ISBN : 9780215091352

Get Book

HC 600 - Reform of the Rail Franchising Programme by Great Britain: Parliament: House Of Commons: Committee Of Public Accounts Pdf

The last time we discussed rail franchising was in 2012, in the wake of the collapsed competition for the InterCity West Coast franchise. We are encouraged that, since then, the Department for Transport has strengthened its capability to let franchises, but there are still gaps in its ability to then manage the contracts effectively. The Department's increased focus on the passenger experience is also welcome, but it is unclear when passengers themselves will actually see the benefits. Furthermore, the Department has not yet developed the partnerships with operators that are required to support innovation, improve efficiency and improve services for passengers. Successful rail franchising depends on strong interest from the market and effective competition but there are barriers to entry to the UK market and the possibility that current participants in the market may drop out. Any reduction to the current level of competition is a major risk to securing value for money for the taxpayer. Perhaps the biggest challenge facing the Department is to manage the complex interdependencies between passenger rail franchises, the infrastructure that train services run on and the introduction of new fleets of trains to the network. Uncertainty about infrastructure work has resulted in delays to franchise competitions and the Department will have to rely on potentially expensive changes to franchises during the life of contracts. The Department's role is to provide a strategic lead for the complex rail system but it has not yet shown that it has embraced this role. It needs to provide a coherent strategic vision and stronger leadership to ensure that the investment decisions it makes now do not result in increased costs in the long term.

Author : Great Britain. National Audit Office
Publisher : The Stationery Office
Page : 48 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0102954313

Get Book

The Department for Transport by Great Britain. National Audit Office Pdf

This NAO report (HC 1047, session 2007-09), examines rail franchises and the impact they have had on franchises competition; the taxpayer; the passenger and the approach to managing rail franchises in general. Passenger rail services are provided by train operating companies under franchise agreements which generally run 7-10 years. Whilst responsibility for the operation and condition of the track rests with Network Rail, the Department of Transport has ultimate responsibility where it affects passengers and has taken oversight responsibility for passenger rail franchising following the abolition of the Strategic Rail Authority in 2005. The National Audit Office has set out the following recommendations in respect of rail franchises, including: on letting franchises, regional decision making bodies, should have greater involvement; where bids for rail franchises occur, alternative options should be taken into consideration, such as value for money and affordability; that there should be transparency on financial support for franchises with information on how fares cover the overall costs of passenger rail services and the extent of Government support; that there should also be greater transparency on service quality standards; the Government, when negotiating extra passenger capacity, needs to adjust the contract revenue target where appropriate, so that it can better engage in commercial negotiations; also the Department should staff the National Networks Group adequately and not rely unduly on agency staff, given the strategic importance of rail franchising and the potential to reduce direct subsidies.

Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher : The Stationery Office
Page : 40 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2011-03-24
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0102969604

Get Book

The Intercity East Coast Passenger Rail franchise by Great Britain: National Audit Office Pdf

The Department for Transport took a tough line in negotiating with the owner of the InterCity East Coast franchise, National Express, before terminating the franchise agreement in 2009. The Department avoided disruption to passenger services and protected the taxpayer, securing overall value for money. In awarding the contract to National Express in 2007, the Department had applied lessons learnt from the failure of the previous franchisee, Great North Eastern Railway, and got a good deal. Adequate protections for the taxpayer had been included in the contract if the franchisee got into financial difficulties. The Department did not consider it necessary to stress test bids for deliverability should there be an economic downturn. By January 2009, however, the Department considered that the franchise was at high risk of failure. It refused to renegotiate the terms of the contract and the contract was subsequently terminated. Termination was the best way of protecting the taxpayer. If other franchises, which were seen as at high risk, had sought to renegotiate their contracts, the Department may have had to support them at an estimated cost of £200 million to £450 million. The costs of setting up East Coast, the new publicly owned company to run the franchise, and its eventual return to the private sector are expected to be £15 million. National Express paid the Department of Transport £31 million on the termination of its contract. However, the final cost to the taxpayer will not be clear until the franchise has been re-let in 2012.

Author : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts
Publisher : The Stationery Office
Page : 44 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2006-05-11
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780215028747

Get Book

The South Eastern Passenger Rail Franchise by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts Pdf

In June 2003 the Strategic Rail Authority announced that it would be terminating the Connex South Eastern franchise for passenger rail services in Kent, parts of Sussex and South East London; the first, and so far only, instance where a train operating company's franchise has been terminated early. Following on from a National Audit Office report (HCP 457, session 2005-06; ISBN 0102936498) published in December 2005, the Committee's report examines why the franchise experienced difficulties; why the contract was terminated, and the impact on the interests of the taxpayer. The report sets out a number of conclusions and recommendations on the lessons to be learned in order to reduce the risk of future franchise failures.

Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher : The Stationery Office
Page : 71 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2005-12-02
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780102936490

Get Book

The South Eastern Passenger Rail Franchise by Great Britain: National Audit Office Pdf

Examines the termination of Connex South Eastern's franchise for providing passenger rail services in Kent, parts of Sussex and South East London.

Author : Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Transport, Local Government and the Regions Committee
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 299 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 0215002164

Get Book

Passenger rail franchising and the future of railway infrastructure by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Transport, Local Government and the Regions Committee Pdf

Passenger Rail Franchising and the Future of Railway Infrastructure

Author : Richard Brown,Great Britain: Department for Transport
Publisher : The Stationery Office
Page : 90 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2013-01-10
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0101852622

Get Book

The Brown Review of the Rail Franchising Programme by Richard Brown,Great Britain: Department for Transport Pdf

The competition held by the Department for Transport to award a new InterCity West Coast franchise in 2012 was intended to be the first in the most extensive programme of franchising since privatisation. Significant errors were made by the Department during the competition, which not only caused the cancellation of that franchise award at considerable public expense but also called into question the remaining franchising programme. This report is the second of two independent reviews commissioned by the Government, by Richard Brown, the Chairman of Eurostar. It concludes that franchising is a fundamentally sound approach for securing the passenger railway services on which so many people rely. His recommendations include: that the franchising programme should be restarted as soon as possible, but at a pace that both the department and the industry can sustain; that franchise terms should be determined by the circumstances and size of each individual franchise; proposals to strengthen and simplify the bidding and evaluation process for each franchise; proposals for the financial and contractual structure of future franchises, including in relation to risk allocation and capital requirements; and that the government should plan to devolve responsibility for further English franchises to the relevant authorities. Mr Brown also makes recommendations on how to strengthen the department's capability to manage the future franchising programme, echoing the findings of Sam Laidlaw's independent inquiry into the lessons to be learnt from the InterCity West Coast competition. The review also recommends that the Government should determine, by February, plans for the three franchise competitions which were put on hold

Author : Great Britain: Competition Commission
Publisher : Stationery Office Books (TSO)
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2006-04-27
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : WISC:89106852577

Get Book

FirstGroup Plc and the Greater Western Passenger Rail Franchise by Great Britain: Competition Commission Pdf

On 30 September 2005, the Competition Commission was asked to investigate the proposed acquisition of the new Greater Western franchise (the GWF) by FirstGroup plc (FirstGroup). FirstGroup is a UK-based transport company with bus, tram and rail operations across the UK and North America and currently operates four passenger rail franchises in the UK (First Great Western, First Great Western Link, First Trans Pennine Express and First ScotRail, along with a non-franchise "open access" rail service (Hull Trains), and will also operate the Thameslink/Great Northern franchise from 1 April 2006. The new franchise will run for seven years from 1 April 2006, and was awarded to FirstGroup by the Department of Transport on 22 December 2005. The Commission has decided that substantial lessening of competition (SLC) will not result from the merger, either for the alternative public transport services available for their "point-to-point journeys" or to the wider network markets.

Author : Great Britain. National Audit Office,National Audit Office Staff
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 76 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 1996-01-01
Category : Government business enterprises
ISBN : 0102914966

Get Book

Award of the First Three Passenger Rail Franchises by Great Britain. National Audit Office,National Audit Office Staff Pdf

Examines the extent to which the Franchising Director achieved the objectives set for the award of franchises in respect of Great Western Trains, LTS Rail and South West Trains. The objectives were: to secure that railway passenger services in Great Britain are provided under franchise agreements as soon as reasonably practicable; to secure an overall improvement in the quality of railway passenger and station services; to encourage efficiency and economy in the provision of railway services; to promote the use and cost of effective development of the railway network; and to promote the award of franchise agreements to companies inwhich former British Rail employees have a substantial interest.

Author : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 15 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2007-01-29
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0215032314

Get Book

Passenger Rail Franchising by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee Pdf

This document sets out the Government's reply to the Committee's report (HCP 1354, session 2005-06; ISBN 9780215031105), published in November 2006, which examined the current rail franchising system, focusing on the coherence of its objectives, the effectiveness of the process for awarding franchises and the management of franchise agreements, and whether more competition and vertical integration is needed. Amongst its responses, the Government notes its disagreement with the Committee's conclusions that it is engaged in "the dogmatic pursuit of competition where competition is not possible" in the current rail franchising system.

Author : United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 168 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2011
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : MINN:31951D03457312R

Get Book

Future of Intercity Passenger Rail Service and Amtrak by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Pdf

Author : Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher : The Stationery Office
Page : 52 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2012-12-07
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0102980527

Get Book

Lessons from Cancelling the InterCity West Coast Franchise Competition by Great Britain: National Audit Office Pdf

The Department for Transport competition to let the Intercity West Coast franchise lacked management oversight and the governance of the project was confused, according to the National Audit Office. The full cost to the taxpayer is unknown but likely to be significant, with at least £1.9 million in staff and adviser costs, £2.7 million in legal costs and £4.3 million on external advisers for the reviews that it has commissioned. The refranchising process was a major endeavour, with considerable complexity and uncertainty. The objectives of the Department for Transport were insufficiently clear during the franchise competition. The Department delayed the issuing of the invitation to tender by eight months because it had not finalized how it would implement recent policy changes. There was also confusion among Department staff about some aspects of the process. The subordinated loan facility was a particular area of confusion. A subordinated loan is capital provided by the parent company which guarantees franchise payments will be made to the Department should the franchisee get less passenger revenue than expected. However, there were significant errors in the tool the Department used to calculate how big a loan it would require bidders to have. The competition lacked strong project management and there was no clear route for the project team to get approval for major issues. No one person oversaw the whole process or could see patterns of emerging problems.