Franchise bidders challenged to innovate to improve the
experience for rail passengers.
Improved accessibility, simpler fares and improved compensation
are among the benefits passengers on the West Coast will receive
under a new operator over the next decade, Transport Secretary
announced today(27
March 2018).
As companies are today invited to bid to run the
new West Coast Partnership, the Transport Secretary unveiled
a new vision that could see HS2 become a fully integrated
railway, with a single organisation running all aspects of the
service – the tickets, trains, maintaining the track and other
infrastructure like signalling - ensuring a single joined-up team
will deliver the best possible passenger service.
The successful bidder for the West Coast Partnership will drive
improvements on the current services on the existing West Coast
line but also oversee the introduction of HS2 services from 2026 and work with
the department and HS2 to consider the options for the
future.
Bidders for the West Coast Partnership have been challenged to innovate to
improve the experience for passengers on this highly
successful railway. As a minimum, West Coast passengers will
benefit from improved accessibility, simpler fares and modern
ticketing, as well as improved compensation – with passengers on
the route eligible to receive money back for delays of just 15
minutes.
The successful bidder will operate the West Coast service until
2031 and work closely with the government and HS2 Ltd to shape the future high-speed service,
as well as running the first high-speed services from 2026. Given
the scale of the interaction between InterCity West Coast
services and HS2, this
will ensure that these projects are effectively coordinated with
the passenger at the heart of all decision making.
Transport Secretary said:
We are investing in the biggest modernisation programme of our
network since Victorian times, delivering what passengers want
to see and changing the way our railways are run to ensure they
are focused on delivering the best possible service.
The new West Coast Partnership will deliver immediate benefits
to passengers and pave the way for the seamless introduction
of HS2, with one
operator responsible for all aspects of the journey, designed
to deliver the best-possible passenger service.
I want HS2 to
become a strong British organisation, potentially capable of
not just building, but also operating a successful railway – a
beacon for other countries to aspire to, both in terms of the
engineering project to build it and the service it will offer
to passengers, which we will introduce on the West Coast
Partnership.
