Vital rail services that people across the South East, South
West and South Wales depend on will continue to run thanks to
new contracts signed between the Government and rail operators
GWR and Southeastern.
The new agreements with Govia and FirstGroup will also ensure
that jobs are protected in the unprecedented circumstances
brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, providing those who
cannot work from home with the connections they need to get to
where they need to and keep the country running.
In the longer-term, tens of thousands of passengers are set to
benefit from improvements including increased capacity at peak
times, more front-line staff and more fares trials for
passengers. The direct awards will allow services to be stepped
up when the rail network returns to normal following disruption
from Covid-19.
Major improvements to be delivered by GWR include the planned
introduction of additional new capacity in the Bristol and
Exeter areas.
Southeastern passengers will see space for thousands of extra
passengers during the morning and evening peak times. And more
front-line staff will be recruited to help passengers with
their journeys.
Rail Minister, , said:
“We are taking decisive action across the board to ensure
vital rail services continue, allowing those people who
cannot work at home to get to work - particularly our NHS,
emergency services and other vital industries.
“These contracts will keep services running in the short-term
but also are positive news for passengers in the future,
focusing on more reliable services, extra capacity and
improvements to the stations they use every day.
“These are unprecedented times and the rail network is
central to our national resilience. The deals announced today
guarantee vital services in the short term and tangible
improvements in the long term."
These agreements will run concurrently with the Emergency
Measures Agreements announced earlier this week which will see
the Government temporarily take on the revenue and cost risk
associated with individual franchises. These measures ensure
that key services will keep running across the UK.
Great Western Railway, owned by FirstGroup, has been awarded a
Direct Award for three years, extendable to four. Southeastern,
owned by Govia, has also been awarded a Direct Award for up to
two years.
Running since 2005, the Great Western franchise provides
services from London to the West and South West of England and
South Wales, local/regional services in South West of England
and commuter services in the Thames Valley. It is one of the
largest and most diverse franchises in the UK, with major
commuter, business and leisure markets.
Southeastern has been running the train service between London
and Kent and parts of East Sussex since 2006. It operates one
of the busiest networks in the country including the UK’s first
domestic high-speed service with Javelin trains.
