- Great Western rail franchise could be split up to ensure best
possible experience for passengers
- option put forward in new consultation on future priorities
for the franchise
The Great Western rail franchise could be split up to maintain
the strongest possible focus on passengers under proposals
unveiled today (29 November 2017).
The plans would create a new West of England rail franchise to
provide long-distance services between London, Wiltshire,
Somerset, Devon and Cornwall together with local and regional
services across the south-west.
The proposals were released today in a consultation asking
passengers how they want the Great Western rail service to look
in future.
Billions of pounds are being spent to upgrade services for
passengers on Great Western, which carries 100 million passengers
a year and stretches from London to Penzance and from Portsmouth
to Worcester.
Improvements include brand-new electric and bi-mode trains to
provide more seats and more comfortable journeys, while timetable
changes will mean faster and more frequent trips on many routes
by 2019.
The Government has decided to extend the franchise for the
current operator Great Western Railway (GWR) until March 2020 to make sure
passengers get the best possible service while these upgrades are
carried out.
And the Department for Transport will also seek to agree terms
for them to continue operating until 2022, which will to allow
the improved services to bed in fully before running a
competition for a new long-term franchise.
Rail Minister said:
We are investing in the biggest modernisation of the railways
for over a century. Working with GWR, we are bringing the very
latest in rail technology to some of the world’s oldest lines,
putting passengers first so that they benefit from a
transformational programme of upgrades as quickly as possible.
The benefits of these improvements will be felt right across
the franchise area. But as the franchise continues to grow into
the 2020s, we want to ensure every line, station and passenger
remains central to the train operator’s strategy. This
consultation asks passengers how they want their railway to
look into the 2020s and beyond and how it will best deliver for
them.
The consultation opened today
and will run for 12 weeks, closing on 21 February 2018.
